honea byrne

  ...and the black and white television was difficult to watch. Time was running out as Donald Trump yelled “Make America Great Again” the streets back home seemed to elevate that thing called ‘Crime’ was in everything. The sound of the inhale is screaming and crying. The sound of the exhales is houses boarded up and dilapidated buildings. Gangs took everything. Her father was supposed to come back. She dared not to sleep because she knew they would come.  Her eyes were dry. Didn’t want to close her eyes. Yet she knew it wouldn’t make a difference when they came. She could hear her mother through the thin uninsulated walls cradling her baby sister, while she sang those timeless lullabies. She heard the roar of a big truck. A particular roaring she had not heard before. She heard a heavy door opening. Feet heavily stomped on the ground. The door closes, A key goes into the lock. Tears stream down her cheeks. The door swung open. Then a large imposing man stood in the doorway, “...

                 I’ve heard for quite some time, that water is one of the most powerful forces in the world, and beyond this world. In the big three major religions Islam, Judaism, and Christianity there are stories of the great flood. Water being a tool to purge the lands. Water gives life and takes life away. A major storm, named Katrina, did such things. I heard Katrina is German meaning is ‘cleansing.’ Baptism embarks on a spiritual rebirth involving water. Once I placed a hand held glass container that contained holy water. When I removed the barrier of one of my energy points, I took notice that with in days of removing the boundary, the water evaporated. Where’d all the water go? It went to many places, uncountable. This is a story of one drop. One day he remembered to visit his grandmother. “After all she wouldn’t be around forever,” his father told him often. His father would die a couple days prior, The place had a two story ...

 ...then on the screen of the T.V. (TellMeVision) box, a person is throwing dollars, one by one, on the floor from a balcony. A female voice emerges from the sound of the dollars, "The Government. Yes our government is lying to us again. Surprise Surprise."- that introduction was the cue to fade to black, then return to a clear screen focus to a black woman's face that has no blemishes. Beautiful pristine afro-An I'm wondering has "'Fight The Power' come to this?" She continues, "Our government owes us stimulus money that they have not been telling us about. All of you will get an extra $6,660." The numbers in big font flash on the screen while she enunciates "Six thousand, six hundred, and sixty dollars."-a strange frequency hums over the sounds. Her face looks even more beautiful as she goes on, "This money our government owes us is on a black card. You can spend the money however you want. They'll put more money on it ...

  He pulled over at the state line rest stop, wanting to hide. Wanting to hide. Wanting to take a break from life for a while. All he could do was cry. “Well son, you ain’t drunk are you?” He watched his tears fall onto the seal of Solomon coin. “Damnit Damnit Damnit.” “That’s a lot of damns, son.” He laughed. Then he lit a cigarette. Took a long pull. “I’ve dedicated my whole life to her.” “Bullshit. You ain’t seen her in twenty years. You know what to do I’ve heard you say it in meetings. You know. Like that Neil Young song. ‘I am but a dreamer, and you are just a dream. You could have been anyone to me.’” Why didn’t you try to stop?” “I did. But you just had to find out for yourself. What’s the song say?” “’I am but a dreamer, and you are just a dream. You could have been anyone to me.’” “That’s right son. “Now get your ass to a meeting.”               He kept crying and crying. Had been driving for about four ho...

  Pretending I’m talking to you again. Professing my love, “It’s been so long. When you left me, I blamed myself. I should have said or done something different. Should have done something better. With that distance of time-ICAN LOVE YOU NOW. I may not be capable of love now. Yet I am more capable now to try. ‘That’s the difference in that Serenity Prayer.’ I remember when you left I’d look for a clue of you everywhere I went.” She gave me something shaped like a coin. Said it was one of The Seals of Solomon. I released the power in that coin to find a couple. To influence them to truly love one another. I wanted to use the power for myself. But …” Sigh. I let you go a long time ago,”-a vainless lie I tell myself. Will this be in The Hundred Love Letters I’ll Never Send   my love? I remember that first date. You were supposed to meet me at the graveyard. Seemed like an odd place. I went through a pack of Kamel Kools waiting on you. Pathetic me. I was eighteen years o...

  It didn’t take him long to see that sign to a city that he had been to years ago. He took the turn and noticed how it seemed to have the looks of Mississippi towns in one town It had the forest with dirt roads. It had the buildings congested all together with clean black asphalt streets. Had the road where one could see horses on one side and a river on the other side. He crossed the state line with an ashtray full of cigarette butts. He kept pressing the repeat button for the same song, “Come Sail Away With Me” because he figured it could put him in a confident mental state. Then he pulled into a Trucker’s Road Stop. Took about ten minutes and four dollars in quarters and fifteen minutes to vacuum and clean the inside and outside of his car. Kept pushing the aerosol can of fragrance until it was out. Then he put a nicotine pouch on the upper gum above his teeth inside his mouth. Hated the taste. Made him a little nauseous.         ...

 “Dude, look at the way you live Like in a hovel,” his friend Carlton told him about a year ago. At that time, he was living in a two-bedroom apartment. “…that’s more like a compartment. You really think you gonna attract any kind of female?” “What about you, living in that tin can?” Tin can was what he called Carlton’s trailer home. Carlton always seemed to have the right answer, “I don’t really care dude. You’re the one always talking about being alone.” Carlton said. Then took a sip of his beer. He had cleaned up a little bit. That meant that he just moved the biggest things into a spare room so that no one could see the mess. Carlton always knew about the coolest movies to watch. There was just one picture on his wall. It was of James Dean with one of his quotes in all big letters “Dream like you’ll live forever; live as though you’ll die today.” They were sitting on the couch that should have been thrown away years ago. “Check this out,” Carlton said as they watched “Pulp Fi...