Fortress: Poetry Time With Tim

Greetings and salutations, faithful followers of this blog! I’m Timothy Scott Purvis and you are now reading Story Time With Tim! For the time being, Poetry Time With Tim! Where I share all the old stories and poems I wrote that never found an audience outside of the classroom. I’ve written a lot over the years and most of it… well, it isn’t bad. But, regrettably, it isn’t publishable. I’ve been trying, of course. And have been getting some exposure thanks to Amazon and their Kindle service. Of course, still on the bottom of the ranks because every advertisement I make really just gets buried under those who are selling their souls for hundreds and thousands of bucks quarterly.

And Amazon LOOOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEEESSSSS when you throw money their way.

As such, I have a poem here based on an anime series I was going to produce once upon a time when I attending Wright State University. Took a class on poetry to meet my liberal arts requirement. It was interesting. I submitted this work because I’d written it to coincide with my anime project. Never happened, of course. Mostly due to lack of finances and inability to find any animators in the area. Oh, well. I think it holds up well enough on its own, but is probably still going to be confusing to those who have no idea what the basis for it is. I don’t think I’ve posted that tale up here on my blog. It is only two scripts that start the process but was never finished as a result of life being life.

Well, still, even so, a little advertising now to convince you lot that I have a lot of stuff available for purchase. Not that I expect you to click on those links and go and buy everything, but, as an independent creator, I need all the love I can get. Listen, just like you all, I’m a writing, a creative, and I hate the whole work your ass off for the menial tasks job. I want to write. Take care of the kidlets and showcase my imagination. But I can’t do that if I’m working all day just to pay the bills, come home and pass out on the couch, and have no time for my children as a result. I can’t do that because nobody will pay me for my talents. they’ll pay those in their employment. Those who have no natural artistic ability. Why? Because they’re already being paid for their normal work and no extra for what they do on the side. The reality of the system we leave within.

I’m just some average schmuck trying to get by in a world that seems increasingly divisive. So, I ask ya this, if you like my work, won’t you consider the links I’m providing below? Just even a looksie to see if you might be interested? Sure, the presentation I give isn’t stellar. I don’t have a thousand dollar pieces of equipment here. I work with what I got. Maybe someday, you know. But, I have to start somewhere. And here is the place. I’m just asking for a glance. That’s it. And, if you don’t care enough, I get it. I hate ads too. Hate them with every fiber of my being. And, yet, it seems to be the only way to get anybody’s attention. Ugh.

If you have anything you want to share with me, by all means, share it in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you. If you can spare a few minutes, of course. Okay, my ad spiel now:

I would also appreciate if you have Kindle or even if you want some paperback goodies if you’d head on over to my page and maybe show me some love there. I mean, if you’ve been reading a while and see something you like, wouldn’t you like to have it in your personal library? I have some cool short stories available for cheap. Also Tales From A Strange Mind that collects my short stories (there’s also a Kindle edition but, for some reason, Amazon wouldn’t let me link them together) , Tales From A Strange Mind II which collects my old novellas, Red Star Sheriff (Which also has a Kindle edition but Amazon, am I right?) my first novel ever released, though, yes, it does have some grammatical errors and drags on for way too long, sigh. But I still love it and I will be writing a follow up sometime within the next few years. I have a collection of my poems called MisAligned: The Heart Waxes Poetic which collects my old poems but not some of my newer ones included those flash fictions! I’ll probably do that in the future as well. And if you love the perfectly inane, why not check out my Star Cloud scripts presented in book form? Star Cloud The Original Scripts. Another one where Amazon was being difficult with me in connecting the Kindle and PB versions. Still, the paperback they let me sale for cheap and it’s well worth a look if I say so myself. Or, if you don’t want to click on individual links (all of which will take you to my author’s page anyway), just click on my author’s page directly by tapping my name: Timothy S Purvis See for yourself what all I’ve published since I began this venture in 2016.

I mean, if you like my work, of course. No pressure. Just trying to find my way in this world without working menial tasks and suffering physical and mental issues as a result. If only I could merely stay home and write. That would be my most epic fantasy brought to life. Well, if you don’t want to do that, you could also donate to my cause down below after all is said and done. It would help. You know, if you liked what you saw and all. Up to you. I don’t have a lot of reviews on my materials because of low sales. I mean, very, very low sales. In the single digits. Right now, I have to rely on Pubby for reviews and those people only read your synopsis and recap it for a five star review. I want honest opinions. Not mean ones, but honest. So, if you ever find yourself buying some of my work, I’d certainly appreciate some feedback. Again, up to you.

Okay, you didn’t come here to hear me meander. You came here for another poem. So, by all means check it out and think about what I said above. We’re approaching the end of the year and my New Years’ resolution is this: To be an accepted author. That’s it. I want to be able to utilize my talents in the ways I was gifted. That’s it. This is who I am and I want to show the world why that is the case. Hope you enjoy Fortress. See you all again next week. Blessed Be.                                              

 Fortress

1.    I see the sun fall

           once more upon that place

           we used to play as children

           wild free with abandon

2.     Across the forest canopy

           the sunlight crosses

           playing deep shadows

           onto the sullied ground

3.     Blanketed by fallen leaves

       brown, gold, red, and orange

       remnants of a summer

       long since ended

4.     And the brook gurgles nearby

            close to the moss covered cave

            leading deep beneath the hills

            and beyond the forest’s edge

5.     With many off-shoots

            like veins carrying the lifeblood

            of this luscious country

            to where it’s needed most

6.     And I am reminded

            of those times

            those times seeming so long ago

            yet could have been just yesterday

7.     Not much has changed

            has it?

            we grow older, grow wiser

            allegedly

8.     Time passes without regard

            an illusion on our minds

            keeping us buried by one

            precipitous moment

9.     Hostages to our own irrelevance

            causing me to wonder

            if you too remember

            remember those days, that day

10.  One long dark cave

            off-shot from the main

            we followed it as far as

            it would go

11.  To the lake, from whence

            the brook ran

            we spied it through

            an opening and laughed

12.  The thrill we felt

            our hearts racing with adventure

            and deeper we pressed

            our way lit barely by sunlight

13.  Piercing random grooves seeking the surface

            and the small torches in our hands

            burning a slow and steady orange

            dim in the black darkness surrounding us

14.  As we progressed further

            into the abyss

            we came to another opening

            where we saw the old lady

15.  And her cabin in the wood

            who trusted no one

            but herself

            we moved onward

16.  Til we came to the old fortress

            it still stands, you probably know

            then it was a relic

            sturdy and tall upon the mountainside

17.  Just as now

            though its walls are crumbling

            falling onto the forest floor

            crunching fallen leaves

18.  A monument to death

            and obscurity and desolation

            as we are deep in the wood

            leaves rustle and I turn

19.  You stand there glaring at me

            you always were a fighter

            more so than I

            I’m afraid

20.  And it occurred to me

            perhaps I should have wrote

            before we met here, this time

            but you probably wouldn’t have read it

21.  You never cared for that sort of thing

            even now your eyes are

            a mixture of hate and lust

            or is it justice?

22.  The sort of justice I could

            never understand

            no matter

            you must remember, I think

23.  That time and that place

            when we exited the caves

            and entered the fortress

            navigating narrow passages

24.  Avoiding fallen stone fixtures

            long since reclaimed by mother nature

            and the lords of the goodly wood

            seeking redemption for past mistakes

25.  Hoping someone would forgive them

            of sins and grant penance

            that which has been denied us

            for the time we fell apart

26.  When we saw that man

            and how he molested her

            so small and frail and innocent

            and frightened

27.  And how he saw us and scowled

            the grizzle of his visage showing

            the years of menace he had gave

            he barely paused in his crime

28.  Waved us away with a dismissive hand

            growled and spat shallow words

            I hesitated afraid and not knowing

            what to do

29.  You didn’t.  You sprang forward

            pulled forth your blade

            the ancient halls reverberated in their silence

            the birds and the bugs and the world

30.  It all ceased in its moment

            as you plunged that blade

            deep into his back and tore through

            his flesh

31.  He tried to fight back

            flailed against you and your small form

            and exposed to you the most tempting target

            your blade slashed across his throat

32.  Spilling his life’s blood across the fortress floor

            the young girl jumped up and screamed

            I was uncertain as to which was more horrific

            to her.  You and your blade

33.  Or what she had lost

            she ran knocking over dust and skittered stone

            gathering her skirts about her

            and never saying a word

34.  Yet leaving us with her shrill voice nonetheless

            I stood still not speaking

            what was there to say?

            and you stood still, watching the blood trickle

35.  Unto stone flooring and dirt

            something was different in us then

            not the difference that people allude to

            the more profound change

36.  The change not measured by years

            or wisdom

            but the change marred by happenstance

            forging a cruel sword like a blade on soft flesh

37.  I know what path you followed

            the sun is fading now

            fading on us both

            as we stare at one another

38.  Justice for you

            was a swift blade

            an eye for an eye

            and so you became that man

39.  That would do what had to be done

            no matter what

            and ironically twistedly

            I became the very law that failed

40.  Failed to act as swiftly as a blade in the forest

            in a terrible act

            that had to be answered

            but it was your voice that replied

41.  While I stood frozen

            I can afford to stand no more

            in your mad quest for justice

            you’ve pulled your blade one too many times

42.  You’ve become what you hated most

            vile and wicked

            or so I tell myself

            so that I may do what must be done

43.  And we clash

            deep in the wood

            you filled with your rage

            desiring nothing more than my exposed neck

44.  And I meet your rage

            neutral and without passion

            not wanting to end our time

            paying little heed to the world around us

45.  To the resounding silence

            yet again just like that day

            so long ago

            when two young boys

46.  Found something that should never have been

            when I should have been stronger

            should have taken action

            and intervened stopping he and you

47.  And the sun crosses the boundary of the horizon

            and the darkness falls upon the forest

            and in my arms you go limp

            our battle finally played out

48.  The crickets begin their serenade

            and the night creatures come out

            the leaves crinkle in the distance

            night air grows chill

49.  My breath slowly leaves in a short gasp

            sighing I stand

            I wrote more than I thought I would

            it is best you never read it

50.  I see the moonlight fall

            once more on that place

            we used to play as children

            wild free with abandon

Welp, another week, another offering. Hope you had fun and I will read to you all again next week. So Mote it be.

~Timothy S Purvis