May God bless all of our veterans who served with honor that we may continue to enjoy freedom bought and paid for by their blood and sacrifice. May we never take it or them for granted.

This reading of a poem written with tongue only slightly inserted in cheek concerns the increasingly acrimonious accusations of racism, white privilege, and grievance-of-the-day rants from those who wield the proverbial hammer (and sickle?), see the whole world as a nail, and raise their loud voices with effects akin to nails on chalkboards in the mistaken belief that the answer to attaining their desired ends is more screeching. 

This is one of the 13 short stories from my Echoes of the Mind's Eye short story collection (C) 2020, 2021. My eclectic collection of short stories range from hard and soft science fiction, to mild psychological horror and love stories that do not fit the cookie cutter mold of their respective sub-genres. "Redemption" is the closest thing I've ever written to paranormal fiction, and the most appropriate short story for Halloween in this collection. Although this is a cold reading, as are all of my podcasts here, I hope you will enjoy it. And if you do, please feel free to share its link. As always, thank you for your support.

From Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems, Volume 2 (c) 2021.

This is one of the sonnets from my Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems, Volume 2 (c) 2020, 2021

This segment was published in the Binghamton Sun Press from a letter I wrote while the Dean of the Business Division at SUNY Broome around Thanksgiving 2005. It was reprinted as it appears here in my latest collection of poetry as it appears here. (c) 2005, 2021.

From Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems (c) 2011, 2021.

From my Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems, Volume 2 (c) 2020, 2021.

A free-verse poem from my Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems collection (c) 2011, 2021

(c) 2014, 2021 Victor D. Lopez - All rights reserved