Returning the Favor

Don’t cry for the kid I was.

He was weak. An old man

had to teach that kid

his eyes wouldn’t be dried

by caring hands,

and his skin needed to be trained

to be harder than the fists that hit it.

I made my own lullabies

from the cracking of skulls,

the stomping of boots,

and cries for mercy.

I made lesser things

scream the pain I didn’t allow

myself to show, peaceful

until the next time anger howled

in my brain, demanding prey. 

(i can’t punch hard enough to save her)

Heaven gave me hell.

I’m just returning the favor. 

Song Choice: Behind Blue Eyes by The Who

This poem was inspired by the prompt (I created!) over at Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads: The Villain Speaks. I chose Turk, the Neo-Nazi character from Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult. The poem also borrowed inspiration from a line spoken by the villain from one of my favorite animes, Nakago from Fushigi Yuugi ( "I'll have my revenge against the heaven which has only given me hell"), who, when I thought about it, had a fair bit in common with Turk, both being hurt children who grew up to do terrible things as a way to deal with their pain. This poem is also linked up to Poets United Poetry Pantry 349. 

By Rommy Cortez-Driks

Villains

My family and I were out for an evening walk with our lazy not-so-new anymore dog Kit (short for Kitsune, but given his girth, I think Sumo would have suited him better). Kit's leisurely pace isn't great if you are looking for exercise, but it is a nice opportunity for family dialog. The topic got around to books we've read. My husband asked the rest of us who was our favorite villain in a book.

I consider myself a reader. Maybe not as voracious of one as I was in my youth, but I do read quite a bit and my mind blanked. LOL, now part of it was the weird blanking out thing your mind does when anyone asks you to pick your favorite anything. But part of it also was that it's not as easy, for me at least, to pick out a favorite book villain as it is in a visual media, like a movie or TV series.

Alfred Bester from Babylon 5 is easily on my top 5 TV/ films villains of all time list

You see, the thing with books is that you are often much more privy to the thoughts of the protagonists, and although there may be a Big Bad they are facing, I often find myself more interested in the main character's internal drama. What is it inside the hero/ heroine that needs to be overcome? What is it the villain stands for that is so at odds with what it is the protagonist wants?

That being said, yes I did eventually come up with some literary villains (Melisande de Sherzai, Mrs. Haversham, The Overlook Hotel, The White Witch from the Narnia books, even He Who Must Not Be Named were stand out villains), but I still haven't figured who was my favorite. I suppose I'll just have to read more books and re-read my old favorites to be sure. September is coming, so I'll have a bit more reading time then. 

By Rommy Cortez-Driks