,,ggddY""""Ybbgg,, ,agd""' `""bg, T H E N E O - C O M I N T E R N ,gdP" "Ybg, ,dP" ""` ,dP" _,,ddP"""Ybb,,_ .s*""*s .s*"*s. ,8" .+$ '""' `"Yb, .P' $ `.d' `b ,8' .+$$$$ssss+. sssss "'d' .sssP d' `b db. ,8' .+$$$$$$$$$$$$$$+. $$$$$ d' ,P' d' s*s $ d' `b d.+$$$$$$$$$$$$$$`*$$$$+.$$$$$$$$$ $ :$ d'.P .Pd' $ _ 8`*$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ o`*$$$$$$$$ T. `b. :$ TsP .Pd' $ .+P"*+. 8 `*$$$$$$$$$$$ OOb.`*$$$$$ T. `^**sT. .Pd' . $ .+P' :P 8 `*$$$$ YOOOObooi `b. $ T. .P'd' .P $P' .P' 8 `*$ "OQQQO" `TsggsP `TssP' d' .PT. . .P' Y, i. aP ,P d .P :$b+.d' .P' `8, "Ya aP" ,8' d; .P .d' .P' `8, "Yb,_ _,dP" ,8' `*TP .d' .P' `8a `""YbbgggddP""' a8' d; .P' `Yba adP' `*TP' "Yba adY" `"Yba, ,adP"' `"Y8ba, ,ad8P"' E L E C T R O N I C M A G A Z I N E ``""YYbaaadPP""'' .-. t h e l i t e r a r y m o l o t o v c o c k t a i l .-. / \ .-. .-. / \ / \ / \ .-. _ .-. / \ / \ `-------\-------/-----\-----/---\---/-\---/---\-----/-----\-------/-------' \ / \ / `-' `-' \ / \ / \ / `-' `-' \ / `-' I N S T A L L M E N T N U M B E R 2 8 0 `-' S E P T E M B E R 9 , 2 0 0 4 B M C , E D I T O R - I N - C H I E F FEATURED IN THIS INSTALLMENT: Mine Tyger - Tapmo _/"-._/"-._/"-._/"-._/"-._/"-._/"-._/"\_.-"\_.-"\_.-"\_.-"\_.-"\_.-"\_.-"\_ EDITOR'S KNOWTE Whoo! It's been a long summer, so I won't try to recap. Tapmo is back with a mini-epic, full of good words. Nothing I can say would do justice to the piece. Read it now, then read it again later. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ \"-._\"-._\"-._\"-._\"-._\"-._\"-._ _.-"/_.-"/_.-"/_.-"/_.-"/_.-"/_.-"/ " " " " " " " """"" " " " " " " " _/"-._/"-._/"-._/"-._/"-._/"-._/"-._/"\_.-"\_.-"\_.-"\_.-"\_.-"\_.-"\_.-"\_ Mine Tyger by Tapmo _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ \"-._\"-._\"-._\"-._\"-._\"-._\"-._ _.-"/_.-"/_.-"/_.-"/_.-"/_.-"/_.-"/ " " " " " " " """"" " " " " " " " Fire and Brimstone. One night in the harvest season, I sat in the luxury of the King's Gold Room, watching the singers, dancers and musicians. They moved like cubist nymphs, slight and mathematical. I resolved to learn to sing. I left the court at once, as the King raved madly to his servants of the taxes he would earn from his new conquest. Mine tyger followed me out of the city, the fire and brimstone lighting our path through the forest hills. Both mine tyger and I made sure not to look back. Once I mentioned getting some food, mine tyger loyally devoured me. I asked him, "My friend of many years, why have you eaten me? Have I not treated you with the utmost respect and care?" But, perhaps he did not hear me. Wet Deserts. Mine tyger traveled long and came to a land of wet deserts. The air was so thick it caught in mine tyger's throat. He choked and choked, and eventually coughed me up. Petting mine tyger, I realized that the deserts were made of water, water so salty it only added to one's thirst. It was odd on that desert. Every time I looked up, the shore would be somewhere else. Apparently, in the shifting sands, one could not keep a straight course. Sometimes the shore was close and you could see every detail of rural life, at other times one was favored only with a distant speck that could have been anything. It would be days, maybe years, before we reached the next city. Together, me and mine tyger rode the desert waves. Mine massive tyger licked his massive paws, and eyed the vast skyline with his massive eye. Golden Locket. As mine tyger and I searched for the distant city limits, I noticed a small golden locket swinging from my companion's neck. It was immaculate and without tarnish. I questioned him about it, and after long entreaty, mine tyger finally conceded: he would allow me to take a brief glimpse. Despite his gentlemanly facade, he betrayed giddiness in removing the locket from his neck, and pride in opening it. When I saw the portrait, I understood why. The young maid depicted in the portrait had endearing eyes, a small forehead, and beautiful long hair that both curled and did not. She smiled like the devil, and upon mentioning this, both myself and mine tyger laughed in macho agreement. Illusion. As the shore approached, growing larger (as all shores eventually do), mine tyger, by negative correlation to the shore, grew smaller. I asked him why he was growing smaller, but if he replied, I did not hear it. By the time the buildings were in view, he had matured into a dainty kitten, and now only my hunger and my fear were vast. I ate him in one bite, and walked into the vast city. I had been in enough cities to know one in decline, but here even the dirt was grimy. You could not tell the sea in the harbor from the sky above, as each was forced to lend some of itself to the other, as old friends commonly do. Walking the disheveled streets I learned that this city had been one of the King's new conquests. "Ever since the King took our land, we have had nothing," a cadaverous man said sparsely, and walked away. I did not blame him for hoarding his words. I had heard that, in many parts, folks were now forced to subsist on word soup. I dared not embarrass the city's inhabitants by informing them of the King's most certain death in the fire and brimstone. Before walking out of the city, I bathed under a waterfall, which was so disadvantaged it ran nearly sideways. I took care to walk in a hobbled, destitute manner, so as not to shatter the illusion of poverty to which the population was so faithful (Mine tyger always told me: "Con sarn it! Faith makes me feel real!" Traveler. I traveled long in search of another city or town, but found none. Life persisted obstinately in the form of animal and plant. Trees remained stubbornly uncut. Trails kept themselves defiantly thin and unpaved. Rocks lay unsplit and unpiled, crowding my progress around them, rather than guiding me on a predetermined path. I felt lost, wishing instead for a horizon, no matter how far away. Builder. It finally occurred to me that I must build my own city. All through the night I slaughtered trees and cleaved rocks, ordering them as I saw fit. My pace quickened with each breath. I could feel mine tyger leaving my heart, but I did not care. My hands and feet froze under the frosty moon. At dawn I looked upon my city, and saw that it was no city at all. Monument. There were two frozen monuments of wood and stone, frozen because the winter had come in the night. I was sure I would die of the cold, a monument of Man in front of two monuments of wood and stone. Mine tyger must have abandoned me when the winter wind began to blow. I vowed that I would never build a city again. But when the lightning came and struck my monuments, a great fire was created and the winter defeated. I thawed and became warm by the fire. My monuments had saved me as no city ever could. I knew that the lightning had been no mistake. Who could have sent the lightning? King. In the next town, men called me King, and told me to tell them what to do. I have only known one King, and he fell to ruin by incurring fire and brimstone from above. He became - most certainly - dead. In order to incur the opposite - my prolonged life - I decided to draw a flood to the city. The salt water washed over the town's crop, and flooded the land. The people became hungry and angry. They ate my ears for supper. My castle was in flames and my honor among my subjects was extinguished. Leaving the town, earless and afraid, this time I turned to watch the buildings grow smaller. As I did so, mine tyger began to grow within me, but now as courage. This was mine tyger's gift of friendship: whenever I left a city, the courage would come to carry me to the next. .-. .-. / \ .-. .-. / \ / \ / \ .-. _ .-. / \ / \ `-------\-------/-----\-----/---\---/-\---/---\-----/-----\-------/-------' \ / \ / `-' `-' \ / \ / \ / `-' `-' \ / `-' `-' The Neo-Comintern Magazine / Online Magazine is seeking submissions. Unpublished stories and articles of an unusual, experimental, or anti-capitalist nature are wanted. Contributors are encouraged to submit works incorporating any or all of the following: Musings, Delvings into Philosophy, Flights of Fancy, Freefall Selections, and Tales of General Mirth. The more creative and astray from the norm, the better. For examples of typical Neo-Comintern writing, see our website at . Submissions of 25-4000 words are wanted; the average article length is approximately 200-1000 words. Send submissions via email attachment to , or through ICQ to #29981964. Contributors will receive copies of the most recent print issue of The Neo-Comintern; works of any length and type will be considered for publication in The Neo-Comintern Online Magazine and/or The Neo-Comintern Magazine. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .--/---\---/---\---/---\---/---\---/---\---/---\---/---\---/---\---/---\--. `-' `-' `-' `-' `-' `-' `-' `-' `-' `-' ___________________________________________________ | THE COMINTERN IS AVAILABLE ON THE FOLLOWING BBSES | |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| | TWILIGHT ZONE (905) 432-7667 | | BRING ON THE NIGHT (306) 373-4218 | | CLUB PARADISE (306) 978-2542 | | THE GATEWAY THROUGH TIME (306) 373-9778 | |___________________________________________________| | Website at: http://www.neo-comintern.com | | Questions? Comments? 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