Three Drabbles
by Ken Poyner
Awkwardness
Natalie misplaced her left hand. This being short-sleeve season, we see where the lower arm terminates abruptly. She appears unaware of the loss, not even compensating for balance. Citizens speculate where she might have left it, but none are motivated to search. No one wants to find Natalie’s left hand clutching a discarded turbulence, or clinging to one of Thole’s on-display un-special drill sets. Coming upon the wayward hand, would it be neighborly to extract it from wherever Natalie abandoned it and return it, or should it be left to adapt to its new circumstance? Uncertainty displeases everyone.
Battling Tyranny
This town has a different pledge than the town I just vacated. It seems a few words shorter and demands a different cadence. Citizens run through it at breakneck speed. In my earlier town, we chewed the words, drawled them out at a leisurely pace. It had become autonomic speech for me. I was comfortable that I could always deliver it perfectly. Already, those words are fading. I have until Tuesday to memorize this town’s pledge. Until then, I can keep it written and carried in a pocket. Rumors of such indulgence lured me here. What others might there be?
Civic Standing
I tell him we have enough clouds, but he keeps building them. No one comes anymore to the events he stages to push his clouds into the atmosphere. Maybe if he offered beer and balloons; but he wants to keep the affair dignified. As long as he goes that way, he will release them in solitude. Yes, his clouds are well put together, and you can see the considered craftsmanship—but there are plenty of clouds forming naturally. Yet he poses that, after a run of three or four cloudless days, people will begin to think more fondly of him.
Ken Poyner has eleven available collections of poetry, flash fiction, and micro fiction, the latest The Lechery of Fish Tuners, drabbles. He has suffered ten Pushcart nominations without a win and has taught on an NEA Poets in the Schools grant. He spent thirty-three years herding computers. He is married to a world-class female powerlifter. www.kpoyner.com
