Something seemed different ...

Something seemed different about the crochety old man with the gray fedora and antique walking stick after he took in the mangy stray kitten.

Something seemed different to Lucille - was it the plastic Jesus on the dashboard or the fuzzy dice dangling from the rearview mirror?

Something seemed different about the way she looked at him but he couldn't tell if it meant she knew what he'd done.

sw, kk, mk
© 2005

haiku

Wind blown leaves of orange
walking on ice crystallized grass
cardinal chipping.

sw, mk, kk
© 2005

Excerpt from Alien Territory by Margaret Atwood

The history of war is a history of killed bodies. That's what war is: bodies killing other bodies, bodies being killed.

Some of the killed bodies are those of women and children, as a side effect, you might say. Fallout, shrapnel, napalm, rape and skewering, antipersonnel devices. But most of the killed bodies are men. So are most of those doing the killing.

Why do men want to kill the bodies of other men? Women don't want to kill the bodies of other women. By and large. As far as we know.

Here are some traditional reasons: Loot. Territory. Lust for power. Hormones. Adrenaline high. Rage. God. Flag. Honor. Righteous anger. Revenge. Oppression. Slavery. Starvation. Defense of one's life. Love; or, a desire to protect the women and children. From what? From the bodies of other men.

What men are most afraid of is not lions, not snakes, not the dark, not women. Not any more. What men are most afraid of is the body of another man.

Men's bodies are the most dangerous things on earth.

From Good Bones and Simple Murders by Margaret Atwood (©1983)