Poem: "Thunder Without Rain"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This poem was inspired by prompts from siege, janetmiles, jenny_evergreen, and meeksp. It was sponsored by jenny_evergreen. It belongs to the Monster House series.

Thunder Without Rain

That boy at school who sits behind me
and always tries to dip my ponytail in the paint
during art class whenever the teacher isn't looking
has this black cloud hanging over his head
that he doesn't even know is there.

So that's where the grumbling is coming from.
I'd been wondering since I met him in kindergarten.
I could always hear it, low and mean,
like a thunderstorm somewhere over the horizon
busy making tornadoes to tear the roofs off people's houses
and drive straws into telephone poles
like my grandmother says she saw once as a little girl.

The morning after my sixth birthday,
when I wore my new necklace to school,
the Eye of Fate showed me the world in a whole new light.
I could see the trails that people made
as they moved through each other's lives,
and some strange things and creatures -- though oddly
some others disappeared when I wore it.
It only seemed to show things that mattered,
or things that had a Fate, or something like that anyhow.
That was the first time I saw the cloud over his head
and the black look on his pale face
and his blank eyes like the eyes of a dead fish
lying on the ice in the supermarket when nobody wants to buy it.

In art class, I sit facing forward, with that boy behind me,
because I don't want to look at him,
because when I do, sometimes I start to see flickers
like lightning in that overhanging cloud,
and I don't want to see anything by that light, ever.
That thing that hovers over him
isn't the kind of monster I'd want to live with.
Not even the bogeyman makes the hair on my neck
stand up the way it does on a stormy day
when the sky is full of thunder and lightning but no rain.

He's not a nice boy. I don't like him.
The teacher says I am silly and won't let me move
but I know better, and now when I sit down
I pull my ponytail over my shoulder, onto my chest.

Comments

[thesilentpoet.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like this one! Love that we're getting one from the daughter's POV.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

For more of that, see also:
http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/1848149.html

[eseme]

Oh man. That is scary.

I hope she can meet someone who can exorcise demons... if there is one as opposed to the more mundane explanation of a terrible home life.

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, it's the person. When you look into someone's eyes, you are not meant to be met with the blank, emotionless stare that is more appropriate on the visage of a shark. There are people in this world who are just wrong despite whatever background or upbringing they have.

And they begin as children...

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Some evil people are born that way, and some are made that way, just as it is with good people. Most humans are a mix, and the expression is contextual -- they will largely echo whatever is around them, good or evil. But there are always a few strongly oriented towards one pole, who cannot be swayed from it.

Re: Yes...

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I would use 'evil' to describe someone like this. To be 'evil', one must be capable of differentiating between right and wrong. I'm not sure a full sociopath is capable of that, beyond simply as abstract notions; they are incapable of empathizing with other humans and, as a result, do not experience remorse.

Is that something to be afraid of? MOST. F*CKING. CERTAINLY. But I still can't quite call that evil... no more than I can so label a shark ripping off a hapless surfer's leg.

Re: Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Interesting. There are people who simply have no moral or ethical perception, which is a serious sociological handicap. They don't have the same capacity as ordinary humans to perceive right and wrong. However, I'm not sure that puts them in the same category as animals, who are not subject to matters of morality.

Re: Yes...

[jenny_evergreen]

I'm with the_vulture on sociopaths; they are missing empathy, and, to me, that's really the thing that differentiates us from other predatory animals.

Good poem!

[rhodielady-47.livejournal.com]

You nailed it.
Some people are just born missing something, but others are just born BAD.
I know a lady whose middle child is like this. I get the distinct impression that I want to be nowhere close once this kid hits his teens.
Sadly, he is not the only one I've come across like this.
You are very right in saying that these "cuckoo's chicks" begin as children.
Back when I was substitute teaching, I lost track of how many times I had to rescue toads and spiders from little kids out on the playground. You have no idea how unsettling it was to see all the angry looks I was given for having defended the little critter--from children not yet ten years old.
I also remember the time I borrowed a very tame hamster from the librarian and took it into one of my better behaved classes to show them. I was going to pass him around and let each of them hold him but I didn't do it. Something told me not to. I doubted the poor little hamster would have made it back to me unharmed.
I was very relieved when I finally made the decision to quit that job.
(In writing this, I now understand why I was so relieved at the time!)
8^(

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>Some people are just born missing something, but others are just born BAD.<<

Both of these things are true.

>>(In writing this, I now understand why I was so relieved at the time!)<<

I'm glad that my poetry can sometimes explain things that people sense without necessarily being able to articulate at the time.

However, after writing "Whatever We Feed," I'm looking at this character a bit differently. While some people are born depraved, others are made so by circumstance. I really was surprised when he cared about the black cloud. I wouldn't have expected him to be capable of empathy and compassion, even directed toward such an unsettling recipient. So now I suspect that there are aspects of his nature that make him resonate with the black cloud, but also something contextual.

Re: Thoughts

[rhodielady-47.livejournal.com]

In real life, some monsters are born but monsters can also be made.
I don't know which is scarier. I generally find a place to retreat to or hide in until they are gone elsewhere.
:{

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I'll avoid them if it's convenient, or if they have institutional high ground. But if they're causing trouble for me or mine, I will stomp them flat.

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

There are various ways such a problem can manifest. In this case it's most likely a combination: black clouds tend to attach to someone who already has at least a slight inclination toward moodiness, and then drive them into deep depression or dire evil.

Exorcising them ... not so easy, and they're not really demons.

Re: Hmm...

[aldersprig.livejournal.com]

It is so very me that my _first_ response (much as it was in middle school, though I mostly contained it then) was to want to hug the boy. Hug him and show him love.

I should know more than most how well that can turn out :-/

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

That actually can work. It just happens to be a very challenging technique, and much of its probability of success relies not just on individual skill but on cultural context. Whether ice freezes water or water melts ice depends on the surrounding environment and which has the upper hand to begin with.

Re: Hmm...

[aldersprig.livejournal.com]

I acknowledge that it's possible it can work. I'm just wearing the scars from the last time I tried...

perhaps the climate was too chilly. :-/

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Alas, likely so.

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

This poem is especially creepafying for me; I know that kind of look on that kind of kid all too well...

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

It is a creepy poem.

One of the interesting things about today's fishbowl is the diversity of tone. Monster House has always had a few darker poems, but often runs to humor. It wasn't straight humor today.

Ironically, of all the serials, this one is probably the most inspired by actual experiences or things I've read about in newspapers. It's really only about a half-step stranger than this world. Monster House just makes certain things more visible or material than they usually are. But the underlying energy is very much there.

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

Creepy! And awesome. I love this round of the fishbowl!

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I'm glad it worked for you.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Creepy!

[kitrona.livejournal.com]

I've known boys like that. And girls, come to think of it.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

So have we all, I think.

I'm sorry about your inbox, for what it's worth.

[aubergine-pilot.livejournal.com]

You do keep track of everything in this 'verse. Oh. Oh my stars. Just when I'd almost forgotten this qualifies as horror.

(I think I had a cloud like that once. I'm not really sure if it's gone or not, sometimes.)

Re: I'm sorry about your inbox, for what it's worth.

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Don't worry about the inbox, I love it when people comment. Feedback is candy!

>>You do keep track of everything in this 'verse.<<

I try to, though the success is variable in the big series.

>> Oh. Oh my stars. Just when I'd almost forgotten this qualifies as horror.<<

Monster House has an exceptionally varied tone. It goes all the way from cottoncandy fluff to quite disturbing horror. The average is dark suburban fantasy, where family life is just a bit freakish; kind of like The Munsters or The Addams Family. I might actually worry that it's too wide, except that it's also one of my most popular series. It really makes hairpin turns in some places.

>> (I think I had a cloud like that once. I'm not really sure if it's gone or not, sometimes.) <<

O_O

Re: I'm sorry about your inbox, for what it's worth.

[zeeth_kyrah]

They dissipate, but the effects can linger for a very long time.

Re: I'm sorry about your inbox, for what it's worth.

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Sometimes they dissipate, or depart. Other times they stick around long term. I don't think they tend to leave a willing host unless forcibly separated.

Re: I'm sorry about your inbox, for what it's worth.

[aubergine-pilot.livejournal.com]

Or they change into something else. Right? Armor, or something else that's removable when it's not crisis time, right?

Re: I'm sorry about your inbox, for what it's worth.

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Possibly so. I suspect that's uncommon but extant. This kind of entity is akin to a thoughtform, and feeds on emotion. So while the core nature of the species would be slow to change, individuals may be more malleable. Humans can change, somewhat, if they have enough contact with matters mystical. Based on the evolving story arc here, it seems that these two characters are adapting to each other. The configuration is not ideal, but it's helping them survive in a fairly hostile environment.