Gods&Angels

  Hera gazed into the nighttime sky at the little bear. She recalled the incident differently than Zeus. She remembered that Zeus initiated the relationship. The girl was captivating. Long, lush black hair flowing over her shoulders and down her back. Full ruby lips, some said, were her best feature. She knew her husband was interested in the maiden. She knew and that’s why she turned her into a bear. Callisto’s thick, black hair became coarse fur, her long fingers elongated into claws, her full lips morphed into a snout. The question the goddess had was about the child. Why did Zeus put the child in the sky? She couldn’t quite remember. Zeus insisted that, yes, he was attracted to the maiden but nothing came of the meeting. But Hera, who couldn’t quite see the event, was doubtful. She knew her husband and it wasn’t the first time he had fooled a mortal with his wiles.  “I promise you, I just felt badly for the lad. He was about to kill his mother, albeit he thought she ...

  Dozens of Owls Perched in Safe-Way Parking Lot It was like Hogwarts sending messages to Harry Potter as dozens of snowy owls invaded the parking lot at the downtown Safeway. The words scrolled across Shannon’s screen as her steps slowed and she looked up to see a large snowy owl perched on the luggage rack on her SUV. Then her eyes scanned the lot and at least fourteen birds were sitting on various vehicles and light poles. A single white feather floated down in front of the bewildered woman. She put her hand out absentmindedly and caught the feather. Shannon looked past the parking lot to the street where a murder of crows was eerily waiting. She had never seen so many crows except maybe in an old movie or it may have been a Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror episode. She remembered seeing a video about crows and owls. They were mortal enemies. “It’s the crows,” Shannon said aloud to the parking lot filled with birds but devoid of humans.   Shannon went to her car...

  In the night sky, Cassiopeia disgraced The arrogant queen who dared Compare her daughter’s mortal beauty To a goddess,rude, contrary The goddess insulted, offended Did smite the disrespectful queen Her kingdom would be destroyed Unless save it would she A sacrifice to be made The very daughter, And, so fair A sacrifice to the goddess, Sacrificed to a monster so rare A hero will emerge from the masses A hero whose worth is mistaken Embarked on a quest for a titan Also smote by a goddess, beauty taken. But all is well, the hero triumphs With help from Zeus the mighty The humbled queen and princess saved All immortalized in the night sky

  You know when you meet someone and you just know you are kindred spirits? That’s what it was like when I met Kate. We didn’t ease into the friendship, we were friends immediately. And then we weren’t. It wasn’t what you think. Let me tell the story. I was a starving artist trying to break out in the music business. Okay, I wasn’t actually starving, I got work usually as a studio musician. But writing music was my passion. It just so happened right before I met Kate I was blocked up so badly that I could barely get Heart and Soul out of my keyboard. One day I was returning home after a fourteen hour session in the studio and there was Kate sitting on the stoop next to my house. “Hey,” I said acknowledging the young woman. “Hey, yourself,” she returned. “Are you waiting for Dale?” “No. I just moved to the area and I kind of got lost. I thought my house was on this street but this is not it.” We started talking and it turned out her house was one block over, same address...

  Persephone they say On that fateful day When Hades forever bride she became Ate three lonely seeds, Three lonely blood-red seeds. But wonder you may On that fateful day Where Persephone did attain The lonely crimson seeds, The pomegranate seeds. Some storytellers say It was a muse named Empathy Forced to wear Hades chain. A melancholy shade, A lonely dark-souled shade. It was then that Empathy Gave the pomegranate to Persephone Knowing the lonely girl’s fate That Hades forever bride she’d be, That she’d be trapped like Empathy. And on that fateful day The dirty trick been played, Empathy no longer a shade Winked out after the deed That damned Persephone And left the world without Empathy.

 “ It’s time,” the woman said in a detached but pleasant voice. “I’m ready,” came the reply. Her long, white gown gently brushed the floor as she stood and readied herself to go. It took quite a while for her to accept the proposal, but in the end acceptance was the only option. She had to acknowledge she had done a lot of things in her life. She had no regrets. Maybe one regret, but she didn’t want to think about that now. She’d have to be satisfied with her choices. She’d had good, stable parents who valued education on many levels both formal and informal. They passed on to her values like compassion and integrity, but also taught her to fight for the things in which she believed. She used these valuable tools in her personal and professional life. She’d had good, supportive friends and believed she was a good friend as well. Her best friend, who had been her friend since grade school, was here with her now as she prepared for this next milestone.  She’d had a won...

Demoted! I can’t believe it. I was on my way to Dominion, the top tier in the Second Triad of the Heavens, and one small incident and now I’m busted back to angel. Not even an archangel, just your garden variety angel who is constantly interfering in the affairs of humans. What’s next, I have to be some earthling’s guardian. So, here’s what happened. The other Virtues and I were doing our thing and exerting our power over the natural order. Assisting with seasonal changes, keeping planets in their orbits and moons circling the planets, nothing complicated, just the usual. It’s not like we were creating a new element or giving Saturn a few more moons or anything. Anyway, they had me doing planets that day. Usually I was on season duty but things were slow this year. With global warming on Earth the change of seasons wasn’t as easy as it used to be. We tried to bring Winter to the northern hemisphere around what earthlings call December but to celestial beings it is the Far Point for Ear...

The young couple planted the seed in their garden. When they bought the house they decided to start the garden. Tomatoes were the first crop. Easy to grow and well-known in the Garden State, their crop did not disappoint. Big, and red, and meaty the tomatoes were perfect. The older woman next door admire the tomatoes and they gave her a basket. The next year they planted their ribbon-worthy tomatoes but added cucumbers and green peppers.they often noticed the neighbor glancing over her fence at the garden. One day the wife thought the sunlight beaming on the garden was a sparkling golden stream when the older woman was looking at the garden. But she decided it was a trick of the eye and the sun must have been gleaming off bits of minerals in the dirt. The harvest was again bountiful and beautiful. The woman and her daughter were outside while the young couple was harvesting. They introduced themselves to the daughter as they offered her mother a large basket of tomatoes, cucumbers, and...