Lies

On January 7, 2018March 31, 2025 By Jerry BrothertonIn Poetry, Rhyming10 Comments

Running down those country roads

We were sixteen, free and alone

Didn’t care what life had in store for us

Just singing the songs of our own

Where did those children go

They spread their wings and flew away

I lost track of them so long ago

If only I could go back to those days

I would not worry about the hypocrites

Or all the other ne’er-do-well

They should have followed their own advice

As far as I can tell

But we listened to all of their lies

Instead of letting our hearts sing

I watched the sunrise fade from your eyes

And now I know what the future brings

Gravel Roads

On January 5, 2018March 31, 2025 By Jerry BrothertonIn Free Verse, Poetry5 Comments

Gravel Roads

The plumes of dust spew from beneath my wheels

As I drive headlong into the darkness

Thick clouds hide those things I have left behind

They will only show me what lies ahead

Down those back roads I drive like a demon

If I can go fast enough then maybe

I will break the barrier that holds me

To the river and back again is the

Cruise of my one horse town. No burger joints

No main street cafes or crowded drive-ins

Someday I will drive beyond the river…

Economy

On January 5, 2018March 31, 2025 By Jerry BrothertonIn flash, Short Stories17 Comments

Several things in the news today caught my attention. Although, there seems to be too many things the Orange Man does these days to keep up with. The one thing I am sure is going to create the loudest buzz is the announcement that K-mart/Sears is closing 100 more stores. I have already seen the comments flow and fingers being pointed.

Anyone who has stood within earshot of me knows of my intense dislike for the Orange Man and his buffoonery. So get out your pens faithful followers of the Chump. This will probably be the only time you will hear this from me. “Donald Trump has nothing to do with the closing of retail stores.”

Retail stores (also referred to as ‘Big Box’ stores) have outlived their usefulness in American culture. Like it or not, we now live in a digital world.

It is possible for me to stay hidden in the security of my own home and have the world come to me with everything that I need. Hell, companies like Amazon and Wal~Mart are even working on delivery robots (Drones) to bring my goods to me so I don’t even need to interact with the delivery boy.

So before we get all high and mighty and start pointing the finger at other people, we should look at ourselves first. We are the ones killing brick and mortar stores. We stopped going to the ‘Mom and Pop’ stores on main street because we could drive out to the new Wal~Mart and get it for pennies cheaper. Now we will go online and buy it for the same reason.

This is definitely not the first, nor will it be the last, of our victims. So where were the cries of outrage when we lost Circuit City, Blockbuster, Woolworth’s, Chi-Chi’s, Steak and Ale, Crown Books, Borders, Sharper Image, Kids “r” Us, A&P, or Tower Records.

Yes dear friends, place the blame where it is due. We are the ones that quit going to drive-in theatres, riding trains, renting videos and subscribing to those Columbia House record of the month deals. We quit buying vinyl albums, going to the shopping malls, using our answering machines or even land lines for that matter. We no longer need AOL instant messenger, cable, tape recorder, CD players, paper maps, dial up modems, pagers, record stores, Kodak film cameras. We live in a changing world and in such a world, there will be victors and there will be the defeated.

But if you like blaming Trump, there are thousands of worse things he has done and many thousands more he is capable of doing. But the implosion of retail stores yet to come will not be his fault.

A Morning in Carroll County

On January 3, 2018March 31, 2025 By Jerry BrothertonIn Non Fiction, Short Stories12 Comments

The valley lay in peaceful slumber under the comforting blanket of a warm night. The clear summer sky was filled with thousands of tiny flecks of light that danced against a deep blanket of black. As the eastern horizon brightened, beginning a slow transformation into dawn, those stars that had dominated the night with their brilliance, slowly faded… withdrawing back into the heavens. Surrendering themselves to the encroaching dawn.

So slight was the change that it came almost without notice. Looking at them there appeared to be no movement at all. But a simple glance away for just a few moments and you’d find that entire galaxies had dimmed or disappeared completely. As the darkness leached from the sky and morning began to shift; first black to gray…then pale blue…finally into cobalt as night yielded to the encroaching dawn.

Slowly the sun pulled itself over the wooded hilltops and splashed the sky with a dazzling array of color. It burned away the swirling fog that had crept up from the river and filled gullies, ditches, and hovered over ponds and fields. As the ghostly mist evaporated it exposed to the world those hidden places with forgotten names like Long Tater Hill, Low Gap, Bunch Hollow, Rabbit Island and Wakenda.

The coming dawn brought to life a sea of green that swirled and rolled in the soft morning breeze. The vast fields of corn, wheat, soybeans, and alfalfa stretched out from the banks of the Missouri River to touch the horizon. Each tiny drop of moisture that dangled from the tips of their leaves reflected the beauty of the sunrise.

Cows grazing in rich emerald pastures looked up with tender shoots of sweet clover dangling from their mouths. They felt the sun…it warmed their blood and sent small wisps of steam rising from their backs. The sun had witnessed this scene countless times before and did not linger to enjoy the serenity of the moment. It moved on uncaring. But for me the scene will remain frozen in my memory…I weep for all who have never known such joy.