Poem: "The Fire of Hatred"
This is the freebie for the October Crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by a prompt from Dreamwidth user Himejoshiheart. It also fills the "Autumn" square in my 10-1-23 card for the Fall Fest Bingo. This poem belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics.
Warning: This poem contains topics likely to upset some readers. Highlight to read the more detailed warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes graphic descriptions of bigotry, racist language, hate crimes, the Ku Klux Klan, violence, arson, death of innocent people, wanton destruction of woodland, and implications of further corruption of non-innocent youth. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider whether this is something you want to read. It's not connected with an ongoing storyline, so you wouldn't miss anything by skipping it.
"The Fire of Hatred"
[October 2014]
Jesse-Ray Jones grew up
not far outside of Linden,
Tennessee where there
were more trees than people.
Most of the people there were
the right sort, but sometimes
the wrong sort got uppity and
a man had to take matters in hand.
One autumn evening, Jesse-Ray
and a dozen of his fellow Klansmen
set out with a pickup truck, a cross,
and several cans of gasoline.
They raised the cross, but
before they could haul out
the cans, the nigger who
had just bought the house
came outside and hollered
that he'd called the cops.
The Klansmen all stopped
to listen, and yeah, they
could hear the damn siren.
Course that didn't mean
the cops would actually
do anything about this.
Sometimes they'd run
you off, other times
they'd just pitch in --
hell, sometimes they
didn't even show up.
This time, what they
decided to do was talk
everyone's ears off.
Jesse-Ray stood there
listening to all that bullshit.
He got madder and madder
till he thought he'd explode.
And then he did explode.
His whole self turned into
a giant fireball of hate that
ate up the house and yard,
cross and Klansmen (oops),
cops and patrol car, plus
a big chunk of the woods.
By the time it burned out,
everyone was dead except
for Jesse-Ray himself, and
since he couldn't find his body
nohow, maybe he was too.
Then again, he didn't wind up in
heaven (which was disappointing)
or in hell (which he hadn't expected
but was still a relief) so maybe he
wasn't dead. Or he was a ghost.
Or whateverthehell, he wasn't
a priest to know that shit.
Maybe he had simply
become the fire of hatred.
It didn't matter, really; he'd
have to figure it out later.
So Jesse-Ray just drifted
around for a while, watching
the autumn leaves fall down.
He didn't need food or clothes,
never got tired or cold or hungry.
It didn't suck being a ghost
or whateverthehell, though
it did get a bit lonesome.
Then one day he felt ...
a sort of a tug inside.
Something warm and
familiar pulled at him.
With nothing better to do,
Jesse-Ray followed it.
The tug let him toward
a scruffy young man who
hunched over his computer,
reading the Klan website.
Well, now. Wasn't
that interesting.
Jesse-Ray moved
closer, and now he
could feel the hate
coming off the kid in
waves, like the heat
from a big campfire.
He could almost smell
the burned marshmallows.
It beckoned him, drew him in,
but he could not fit inside.
Not yet. There wasn't
enough room, but he
sensed there could be.
Jesse-Ray would have
smiled if he still had lips.
He knew just what to do.
He fanned the fire of hatred.
* * *
Notes:
Jesse-Ray Jones -- He has fair skin, brown eyes, and long wavy brown hair often pulled back in a ponytail. His heritage is American; he speaks English. He is 26 years old in 2014.
Jesse-Ray grew up in Tennessee, in rural territory not far from Linden in Perry County. His relatives were bigots, so he became a bigot too. As a young man, he grew increasingly obsessed with stamping out difference. He joined the Ku Klux Klan and committed acts of terrorism against black people, immigrants, homosexuals, and pretty much any other disadvantaged group.
One night, Jesse-Ray and his fellow Klansmen attempted a cross burning. However, the intended black victim called the cops, who soon arrived and stalled the event. Jesse-Ray became so enraged that he self-detonated. The explosion took out his intended victim and his house, the cops and their car, the dozen other Klansmen on the raid, and a chunk of the surrounding forest with an area roughly the size of a football field. Damage extended well beyond the range of total devastation. That was also the end of Jesse-Ray's human body.
Since that time, he has drifted around as a negative spirit. He searches for other bigots and haters, especially disaffected youth. Then he encourages them to do worse and worse things.
Origin: During a hate crime, he self-detonated in rage. After that, he became an embodiment of hatred.
Uniform: In human form, he wore redneck menswear, mostly in shades of gray and black. As an embodiment of hatred, he no longer needs clothes.
Qualities: Good (+2) Athletic, Good (+2) Country Boy, Good (+2) Hunter, Good (+2) Kinesthetic Intelligence, Good (+2) Redneck Friends
Poor (-2) Bigot
Powers: Expert (+4) Hatred Embodiment, Good (+2) Self-Detonation
His Hatred Embodiment allows him to detect negative emotions, draw power from them, induce or increase them, and otherwise manipulate them. Jesse-Ray can possess a person motivated by hatred, and drive them to more violent acts. He can also possess a flame kindled by or burning near someone feeling hate. This allows him to take on a Fire Form and, if he wishes, self-detonate it.
Limitation: No human form. Since the first self-detonation, Jesse-Ray has never been able to manifest his original body. Without access to someone feeling hatred, or who could be pushed in that direction, he has little or no ability to act.
Vulnerability: As an embodiment of hatred, he cannot abide emotions such as calm, peace, love, or tolerance. Calm and peace downshift his power and can drain his energy over time. Love and tolerance do double damage on attacks. After a successful hit from love or tolerance, he must roll against his Hatred Embodiment and succeed or be dispelled.
Motivation: Hatred.
According to the civil rights organization’s estimations, the top 10 states with the most hate groups in 2020 per capita are: Montana, Tennessee, Nebraska, Arkansas, New Hampshire, Alabama, Virginia, South Carolina, Idaho, and Nevada.
[---8<---]
Without breaking down the groups per capita, California has the most hate groups with 74. The state is followed by Florida, 68, Texas, 54, New York, 37, Pennsylvania, 36, Tennessee, 34, Virginia, 33, Georgia, 29, North Carolina, 29, and Arizona, 26.
Tennessee Counties Population Map
* * *
The Ku Klux Klan is one of many hate groups catering to bigots. They often rely on radicalizing disaffected youth. Learn how to fight them.
Warning: This poem contains topics likely to upset some readers. Highlight to read the more detailed warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes graphic descriptions of bigotry, racist language, hate crimes, the Ku Klux Klan, violence, arson, death of innocent people, wanton destruction of woodland, and implications of further corruption of non-innocent youth. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider whether this is something you want to read. It's not connected with an ongoing storyline, so you wouldn't miss anything by skipping it.
"The Fire of Hatred"
[October 2014]
Jesse-Ray Jones grew up
not far outside of Linden,
Tennessee where there
were more trees than people.
Most of the people there were
the right sort, but sometimes
the wrong sort got uppity and
a man had to take matters in hand.
One autumn evening, Jesse-Ray
and a dozen of his fellow Klansmen
set out with a pickup truck, a cross,
and several cans of gasoline.
They raised the cross, but
before they could haul out
the cans, the nigger who
had just bought the house
came outside and hollered
that he'd called the cops.
The Klansmen all stopped
to listen, and yeah, they
could hear the damn siren.
Course that didn't mean
the cops would actually
do anything about this.
Sometimes they'd run
you off, other times
they'd just pitch in --
hell, sometimes they
didn't even show up.
This time, what they
decided to do was talk
everyone's ears off.
Jesse-Ray stood there
listening to all that bullshit.
He got madder and madder
till he thought he'd explode.
And then he did explode.
His whole self turned into
a giant fireball of hate that
ate up the house and yard,
cross and Klansmen (oops),
cops and patrol car, plus
a big chunk of the woods.
By the time it burned out,
everyone was dead except
for Jesse-Ray himself, and
since he couldn't find his body
nohow, maybe he was too.
Then again, he didn't wind up in
heaven (which was disappointing)
or in hell (which he hadn't expected
but was still a relief) so maybe he
wasn't dead. Or he was a ghost.
Or whateverthehell, he wasn't
a priest to know that shit.
Maybe he had simply
become the fire of hatred.
It didn't matter, really; he'd
have to figure it out later.
So Jesse-Ray just drifted
around for a while, watching
the autumn leaves fall down.
He didn't need food or clothes,
never got tired or cold or hungry.
It didn't suck being a ghost
or whateverthehell, though
it did get a bit lonesome.
Then one day he felt ...
a sort of a tug inside.
Something warm and
familiar pulled at him.
With nothing better to do,
Jesse-Ray followed it.
The tug let him toward
a scruffy young man who
hunched over his computer,
reading the Klan website.
Well, now. Wasn't
that interesting.
Jesse-Ray moved
closer, and now he
could feel the hate
coming off the kid in
waves, like the heat
from a big campfire.
He could almost smell
the burned marshmallows.
It beckoned him, drew him in,
but he could not fit inside.
Not yet. There wasn't
enough room, but he
sensed there could be.
Jesse-Ray would have
smiled if he still had lips.
He knew just what to do.
He fanned the fire of hatred.
* * *
Notes:
Jesse-Ray Jones -- He has fair skin, brown eyes, and long wavy brown hair often pulled back in a ponytail. His heritage is American; he speaks English. He is 26 years old in 2014.
Jesse-Ray grew up in Tennessee, in rural territory not far from Linden in Perry County. His relatives were bigots, so he became a bigot too. As a young man, he grew increasingly obsessed with stamping out difference. He joined the Ku Klux Klan and committed acts of terrorism against black people, immigrants, homosexuals, and pretty much any other disadvantaged group.
One night, Jesse-Ray and his fellow Klansmen attempted a cross burning. However, the intended black victim called the cops, who soon arrived and stalled the event. Jesse-Ray became so enraged that he self-detonated. The explosion took out his intended victim and his house, the cops and their car, the dozen other Klansmen on the raid, and a chunk of the surrounding forest with an area roughly the size of a football field. Damage extended well beyond the range of total devastation. That was also the end of Jesse-Ray's human body.
Since that time, he has drifted around as a negative spirit. He searches for other bigots and haters, especially disaffected youth. Then he encourages them to do worse and worse things.
Origin: During a hate crime, he self-detonated in rage. After that, he became an embodiment of hatred.
Uniform: In human form, he wore redneck menswear, mostly in shades of gray and black. As an embodiment of hatred, he no longer needs clothes.
Qualities: Good (+2) Athletic, Good (+2) Country Boy, Good (+2) Hunter, Good (+2) Kinesthetic Intelligence, Good (+2) Redneck Friends
Poor (-2) Bigot
Powers: Expert (+4) Hatred Embodiment, Good (+2) Self-Detonation
His Hatred Embodiment allows him to detect negative emotions, draw power from them, induce or increase them, and otherwise manipulate them. Jesse-Ray can possess a person motivated by hatred, and drive them to more violent acts. He can also possess a flame kindled by or burning near someone feeling hate. This allows him to take on a Fire Form and, if he wishes, self-detonate it.
Limitation: No human form. Since the first self-detonation, Jesse-Ray has never been able to manifest his original body. Without access to someone feeling hatred, or who could be pushed in that direction, he has little or no ability to act.
Vulnerability: As an embodiment of hatred, he cannot abide emotions such as calm, peace, love, or tolerance. Calm and peace downshift his power and can drain his energy over time. Love and tolerance do double damage on attacks. After a successful hit from love or tolerance, he must roll against his Hatred Embodiment and succeed or be dispelled.
Motivation: Hatred.
According to the civil rights organization’s estimations, the top 10 states with the most hate groups in 2020 per capita are: Montana, Tennessee, Nebraska, Arkansas, New Hampshire, Alabama, Virginia, South Carolina, Idaho, and Nevada.
[---8<---]
Without breaking down the groups per capita, California has the most hate groups with 74. The state is followed by Florida, 68, Texas, 54, New York, 37, Pennsylvania, 36, Tennessee, 34, Virginia, 33, Georgia, 29, North Carolina, 29, and Arizona, 26.
Tennessee Counties Population Map
* * *
The Ku Klux Klan is one of many hate groups catering to bigots. They often rely on radicalizing disaffected youth. Learn how to fight them.