Spoon River Metblogs

The People of Spoon River

Jay Bushman — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 16:53:25 +0000

1. I, Metadata	83. Matthew Twombley	165. Davy Rice
2. Lukasz Harding	84. Alejandro Mejias	166. Landon Ambrose
3. Marion Rankin-Dyer	85. A Powerful Lawyer	167. Harvey Canyon
4. Nathan Rankin-Dyer	86. Kathy Folds	168. Graham Carrol
5. Ira Hernandez	87. Joanie the Musician	169. Rey Cristobal
6. Evan Loy	88. Mrs. Schneider	170. Clem Dax
7. Fat Tina	89. Mrs. Mitzi Schultz	171. Columbus Lesley
8. Suze Mueller	90. Rev. Clay Halty	172. Will Calhoun
9. Tammy Wilkes	91. Allan Bivans	173. Billy Calhoun Junior
10. Mike Ely	92. Rev. Jeremy Sheaffer	174. Marcellus Wayde
11. Judge Abner Goldhamer	93. Roosevelt Feinstein	175. Andre Mark
12. Eleanor Stargall	94. Judge Terence Visser	176. Hector Dillon
13. Kyle Kerns	95. Kelvin Platt	177. Sam Bourgoyne
14. Benjamin Ridley	96. Thom Kerns	178. Mrs. Alyssa Bourgoyne
15. Tysha Ridley-Sampson	97. Christine Novell	179. Edd Nash
16. Micah Ridley	98. Ikrimah ibn Khalid	180. Stewartt the Coder
17. Genevieve Travis	99. Simon Leigh Goldhamer	181. Gavin Anders
18. Santiago Rufino, Pharm.D.	100. Moreland, the Columnist	182. Herman Saint
19. Daisey Kane	101. Harmonie Fisher	183. Maud Drake
20. Benjamin Ridley Kane	102. Christian Deegan	184. Filomena Liston
21. Efa Underwood	103. Maureene Tringo	185. Octavio Bradford
22. Llewelyn Underwood	104. Thomas Winter	186. Reverend Mappleton
23. Dutch Felden	105. Phillip Thomas Winter	187. Caitlin Cale
24. Doctor Robert Golden	106. Maria Winter	188. Mohamed Williams
25. Mrs. Inez Golden	107. Paul Welch	189. Mackenzie Tobias
26. Kevin Winterbaum	108. Rachel LeDoux	190. Armand Stone
27. Sheila Springer	109. Anya Kirillov	191. Oudry Tumelo
28. Eugene Conkin	110. Benson White	192. Josh Almeida
29. Jamieson Hazeltone	111. Gil Tam	193. Arvin Knoble
30. Al Hazeltone	112. Steve Biscoe	194. Lionel Lindburgh
31. Doctor Jason Centrone	113. Laurent Arno	195. Second Platoon
32. Officer Copeland	114. Imogene Arno-Niles	196. Allistair Finch
33. Hannah Ward	115. Eugene Blantz	197. Emilio Gaines
34. Paul Robeson Law	116. Lonnie Marchetti	198. Becca Finch
35. Shelly Leithouse	117. Sheri O’Brien	199. Mena Weisse
36. Christine Siegel	118. “Big Ed” Thag	200. Gyorg Kiel
37. Miguel Elliott	119. Mirelle Bulinski	201. Donna Sageth
38. Scott DeMayo	120. The Anonymous	202. Dinah Elden
39. Damien McCoy	121. Joel Addams Loxley	203. Sweborg, the Coroner
40. Taryn, the Dramatist	122. Deke Stayn	204. Salvatore Valentin
41. The Sheriff	123. Pierce Leithouse	205. Mordechai Torrey
42. Russell Diedrich	124. Howard, the Station Boss	206. Remington Paisley
43. Benton Woods	125. Maryann Stillson	207. Lyla Banks
44. Beverly Domino	126. Doug Linke	208. Dominick Banks
45. James MacDonald Waring	127. Philip Dent	209. Jamil Cleave
46. Shaun Bolton	128. Ernie Coffin	210. Elizabeth Nickle
47. Ruth Middleton-Ross	129. Lafayette Lincoln Jones	211. Jacob Bryson
48. Alexander Flagg	130. Professor Newcomb	212. Linus Ballard
49. Dr. Gregory Vreeland	131. Broderick Deegan	213. Rosalinda Wyatt
50. Robb Chess	132. Mo Nickle	214. Kylie Templeton Udzinger
51. Claire Battaglia	133. Charla Noxon	215. Paulie “Perch” Rucker
52. Judge Warington Bolton	134. Shawn Rigby	216. Dwayne Hunt
53. Clarence Brusso	135. Marc Lyon	217. Jared Carson
54. Kharyn Green	136. Tanya Lyon	218. Eli Blanchard
55. Giovanni Moss	137. Samuel McGreuder	219. Vita Diego
56. Hans Bluff	138. Matthias O’Meara	220. Dirk True
57. Andrew Cairns	139. Martha Stennis	221. Donavon Bode
58. Darryl Cordova	140. Christophe Stennis	222. Beryl Clovis
59. Gwendolyn Yates	141. Eric Ward	223. Sylvester Rowan
60. Helene Deluca	142. Marci Ward	224. Kenan Connor
61. Rabbi Stern	143. Dawn McCain	225. Soren Kiteway
62. Rita Chavez	144. Commodore Jenkins	226. The Skeptic-Believer
63. Pedro Teves	145. Jake Papac	227. Hugo Bryton
64. Wayne Garcia	146. Wally Cleveland	228. Arnold Edson
65. Spencer Chadwick	147. Felix Amaris	229. Idris Earle
66. Gary, the Pilot	148. Archibald Carlin	230. Noreene Andersen
67. Ng the Salesman	149. Lawrence Viola	231. Joseph Dawn
68. Mayor Ellen Garrity	150. Denzel Butler	232. Denice Fulton
69. Miles Kagan	151. Ryan Bernhard	233. Mac Littleton
70. Ron and Leo	152. Cameron Dick	234. Vidal Adolphus
71. Margaret Garzan	153. Frederick Waldo	235. Yancy Melbourne
72. Mrs. Sofia Garzan	154. Von Tice	236. Mitchell Maddox
73. Judge Sy Goldberg	155. Julio Verne	237. Captain Achilles Pavalides
74. Busker Barney	156. Titus Mansfield	238. Kenji Shaito
75. The Salaryman	157. Muhammad Yusuf	239. Layne Cornell
76. Alexandra Austen	158. Robin Parker	240. Tobin Burgess
77. Glenn Austen	159. Arlan Macy	241. Levar Conway
78. D.A. Antonio Jackson	160. Michael Malankov	242. Geoff Cage
79. Jonathan Mellor	161. Mya Alabama	243. Sebastian Parrish
80. Johan Torres	162. Wilfredo Monserrat	244. George Dillon Davidson
81. Loyd Pahk	163. Elias Camden	245. Spoon River Confidential
82. Park Shin Min	164. Leonettis the Zoologist

Spoon River Confidential

Jay Bushman — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:00:10 +0000

Editor’s Note: Spoon River native Simon Leigh Goldhamer spent many years trying to produce a television series based on the events in his hometown. He wrote many treatments and scripts but the show, which he called “Spoon River Confidential,” was never produced. Just these fragments were found among his effects.

George Dillon Davidson

George Dillon Davidson — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:00:00 +0000

One day, when I was ten,
I was playing baseball
with Miguel Elliott, and we
saw a strange movement and
light high up in the air.
Miguel swore it was the Angel
Gabriel, giving a
trumpet concert. I told
him it was a UFO, and
spun him a story of
aliens coming to
earth, escaping cruel masters, and
befriending a pair of
Earth boys who they would take
on an adventure. Just then, Rod
Deegan went past, and heard
what we were saying. He
chastised us that it was just a
weather balloon, and we
were wasting our time, and
we should grow up now and get jobs.

Miguel met his Angel
after he slipped, and he
never got to grow up. I spent
a lifetime running, and
hiding from Rod Deegan
and his fellows. But every road
I took led back to their
clutches, and my life was
held in thrall to their patronage.
All three of us have passed
now. All three might be called
wastes, failures, or disappointments.
Did any of us leave
behind a mark on the
world, on our shared Spoon River home?
A life cut short, squandered.
A callow legacy
of corruption. Unfinished tales,
read by few, remembered
by fewer. All of us
falling short. All of us failing.

The Gods of the Vikings
all knew they were doomed, that
there was nothing they could do to
avert their fate. What they
taught their Norsemen was to
fight for as long and as fiercely
as they could before they
succumbed to death. And death
spared no one, even deities.

I did what I did. I
struggled hard as I could.
Now we’re all gone. Now we’re all here

Sebastian Parrish

Sebastian Parrish — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 01:00:00 +0000

I lay on my deathbed, waiting for
God or his angels to come.
I’m still waiting. I’ll wait forever.
I know they will come for me.

Geoff Cage

Geoff Cage — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:00:00 +0000

Tobin Burgess is
muttering his
wish to be a plant.
But he’s looking
in the wrong place. We
are all water,
droplets in a huge
river. Each one
a speck in the great
torrent. And in
the end, the river
returns us all
to the fathomless
ocean from where
we began. Or we
evaporate
and ascend to the
cloudy heavens.

Levar Conway

Levar Conway — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:00:00 +0000

The old don’t speak to
the young. They blame the young
for being different,
strange, frightening. Or they
speak at the young, with
regard for listening
only to their own
words, mistaking their worn
proverbs for wisdom.
But I spoke to them. And
I listened to them.
Their fears, Their hopes. Their schemes
and cosmologies.
And I told them that their
elders were just as
lost, just as confused as
they were. And to trust
themselves. I told them the
things I wished had been
told to the young me, what I
learned through all my long
revolutions. They might
not have listened to
me. They may not have heard.
But some of them did.
Even if only one.

Tobin Burgess

Tobin Burgess — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:00:00 +0000

While I was wasting
away, I spent days sitting
in the garden. It
was the early spring. The trees
were just beginning
to bud, waking from their long
winter’s sleep. Starting
over. I didn’t think it
was possible to
envy plants. I did. I do.

Layne Cornell

Layne Cornell — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:00:00 +0000

On Sundays, when my
family went to church, I
went instead to the
library. That was where the
angels sang to me.
And my worship was most
devout. I miss my
books so much. I try to tell
myself the stories.
What I can recall of them.

Kenji Shaito

Kenji Shaito — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:00:00 +0000

My life was music.
And though I will never
make more, what I did
create is still in the
world. Not a lot of
it, not heard by many.
But it is there, while
I am gone. And as long
as that is the case,
there is the chance someone
will hear it fresh. So
I can still live, until
the last recordings
degrade, and the final
person who heard them
passes into nothing.

Captain Achilles Pavalides

Captain Achilles Pavalides — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 23:00:00 +0000

Don’t venerate me, or my
service. I joined for a payoff of
money and strength, but none of us got
much of either. Except for
the permission to take lives. I killed
who they told me to, when they told me
to. I died the same way. A
tool, broken and discarded. Glory
and honor can’t embrace you, but the
cold dirt can. We go to war,
each of us for our own reason. And
we all died for somebody else’s.