A.G.E's Joint

  Thanos scanned the landscape and shrugged. The dispatches would come, and he would get the soul. If something went wrong, the bosses would take the heat. He could only hope that policy would hold with this. Karla, the target, was fair and flaxen haired  A blank canvas whose life never started. Normally, this would not concern him. But something held his eye. An almost imperceptible tattoo above her left eye.  An Artemis warrior, protected by the Goddess herself.  He took a deep breath. There would be consequences in her taking. The human lineage never mattered in these cases. Either you were anointed or not, the vessel holding the spirit was nothing more than that. Something that could be broken or used at will. This was different.  Who ordered this?  Thanos was thirty yards into the meadow. Karla was a little further out picking berries. She moved toward the edge of the wood. He followed along, out of her line of sight. A glint of light appeared at her r...

W eathered wooden bench A memory from across the pond British girl Slightly thick No beauty queen Made the night Faux village in the woods American girls wanting to be Fae Remind me of Wells. Cathedral bells in the background.

  Paisley pattern carpet Stonecraft from another time Another place In the beginning, there was ground And trees Yesterday?  What about it? It's in the fog Like we all will be Soon enough.   No matter how many edifices  We build in rebellion. 

  Satin darkness Soft against flesh Sliding up  Down Reciprocate Welcome kisses Flower buds, Opens, Sweet nectar Supplications to life Echo in the room Dream this night away.

  A quiet side street, a break from the cacophony. Three blocks of bookstores and boutiques invisible to the tourists.  A cruise ship was docked at the port on the left just past the casino. He had an urge to jump aboard and ride it to wherever it went: Haiti, Curaçao, Cayman. It didn't matter. He needed out of this swamp called New Orleans. As he got closer to Canal, he heard the ringing of the Red Line Car coming down the riverfront. He thought about taking it up to Marigny, but the meeting was at Caesar's. His presence was required. As he crossed over the wide Boulevard, a tune seemed to rise up from the street. It sounded like a Second Line dirge, but he wasn't sure. The unclaimed melody drifted like wood in the river. The source was a man in a coat of many colors, a one-man band rig strapped over his shoulders; his money case sat in front with a few bills showing. Normally, he would stop, but there was no time.  A man with a North Carolina Tarheel hoodie stepped out ...

  AI is taking over the world Latest pearl of wisdom Cast among the Swine. They rail at the thought Of a program  Smarter than themselves Building Like a long train running They don't understand It is all A hit and run.