It is fall now, the season of decay and death and what better thing could there be in this season than a good book to remind ourselves of our condition, either by looking at similar lives under the microscope of an expert observer or by looking at lives seemingly different.
I want you to read my book, Savior, published in April and currently available as an ebook from Harvard Square Editions. So why Savior? Why not the collected works of the esoteric yoga mystic Charles Schitsky or the bound volumes of the six masters of contemporary vampire urban noire? Here's my reason why:
Savior is about a man and his son, normal people, people like you. Let's talk about you.
You have nothing to fear. You are at home, trolling the internet for interesting tidbits, information to spark your interest. Your life proceeds as it always has. Not much changes from day to day and you like it that way. You do not fear for your life or for the lives of your friends and neighbors. There is no authority that is intent on quashing your liberty or your ability to support yourself or your inclinations to a life of pleasure. As far as you know tomorrow will be pretty much the same as today, except that you will be one day older. But you do not even fear the passage of time because you are largely in control, of your destiny, your thoughts and certainly of your actions.
You know that you are okay.
But what if one day you awoke at the bottom of a hole, a prisoner with no hope of mercy from a death cult that was about to take over the reins of power from a largely impotent military/industrial government? What if the one person in your life who might fight for you was a teenage boy who was happier surfing and hanging out with his girlfriend than pushing himself or risking discomfort? How would you keep hope alive? How would you survive?
You are intrigued. Here is an excerpt from the thoughts of Al Lyons, the man in question.
I'm breathing
slowly in and out. I'm stringing one breath after another in a prayer chain.
I'm thinking hard, focusing my mind on an image of Ricky. My son is fine. He is
strong. I know it. Because he is good. And good will always triumph over evil.
This is my faith. It is strong. I am strong. But when I hear the train
overhead, a chill runs through me.
Maybe he will come
today. Not my son. I'm talking Samael Chagnon. It has been many days and I do
not miss him. Even so, the toxins he brings strengthen me. The stink of his
words gives me the slightest purchase on life, better than the sheer
nothingness of solitary imprisonment. The foulness of his ideas sharpens my
mind. It is enough to go on. And worth the pain he brings in his wake. I have a
high tolerance for pain, especially when I feel myself sinking closer to death.
It is a fine line. This is how I demarcate it, one breath after another.
Walking that line. But without that shock of contact with the death force of
Chagnon, I am unmoored, floating in this sea of blackness. This is an ultimate
sort of pain beyond pain, the despair of a wasted breath, a meaningless life
that is not worth pursuing down the rat hole of what my mind is in danger of
becoming.
The train rolls by
again, like a corner of the world coming unhinged. My head is bursting with
pulsating waves of pain. I hear my name. He's here again. The guard unbolts the
door. I try to open my eyes to the light, but the pain is too much. A short, stoutish
figure in a hooded sweatshirt, like a medieval monk, silhouetted by the light,
walks in. Next to him are the two guards with shaved heads, black shirts and
loose fitting pants who accompany him always, unquestioning, muscular loyalty,
the cream of the Santos Muertos,
barrio warriors from Tegucigalpa to Las Lomas. With nonchalant inattention, as
if I were a sack of inert matter, they strap me down, pinning my arms and legs
to the rough mat with rubber ligaments.
It is possible to keep alive in the worst possible conditions, under the worst of circumstances. Al is a prisoner of the Santos Muertos, a gang of thugs who use beheadings and human sacrifice as a tool of terror and subjugation. Sound familiar? I won't give any more away, but read it and let me know what you think.
(Photo courtesy of New Your Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement http://nycaic.org)
No comments:
Post a Comment