We always feel protected from the grey beyond, from wisps of mist that eat at flesh, from curiosity of greener grass. It’s all a lie – you tell us so. You tell of terrors, you tell of foes, but our missile heads and army stand against the misery of what’s beyond. We sacrifice, we starve, we are at war, but still our morale always wins.
Our patch of freedom in a hostile world.
Those of different mind we’ll send away, they are like cancer eating victory away. Please save us from the grey beyond, please save us gracious leader,
Kim.
Copyright Erin Laery
This week the picture took me into politics. It’s a dark world out there, and if a beautiful picture and some prosepoetry can give some insight into the horrors I hope it’s for something good.
Friday Fictioneers grows and there are some brilliant stories every week in the community under the guidance of Rochelle
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May 21, 2014
Björn Rudbergs writings 
A very different take on the prompt.
I loved these lines:
1. We sacrifice, we starve, we are at war, but still our moral always win.
2. Those of different mind we’ll send away, they are like cancer eating victory away.
Very good!
Thank you.. i wanted a different point of view.
Dear Björn,
Politics is a dark place indeed. You’ve captured the turmoil and uncertainty.
Shalom,
Rochelle
deceptions of the poor.. Thank you 🙂
Bjorn, Well written piece. 🙂 In some places everything gets politicized until you wonder what you dare say out loud and risk a backlash. —Susan
I agree.. and yes living behind a fence is something quite different from being on the outside looking in.
Good flow of words, per usual. In all the countries all over the world, those on the bottom carry the heaviest load.
Indeed.. and in some countries — almost all are at the bottom.
Dear Bjorn,
Last sentence, first paragraph, should that be ‘morale’ and ‘wins’? I’m just trying to make sense of that sentence. (I blame oxygen deprivation if the explanation turns out to render me stupid.) I got North Korea right away, from deep down the rabbit hole, too. Well done.
Aloha,
Doug
Ah.. yes,, of course it’s grammatically incorrect.. I will correct.. Tack så mycket 🙂
Deep dark politics. Great piece… you’ve captured that feeling of oppression and helplessness well.
Yes sometimes you know what you have but not what you might get.
it’s just not your great writing, choice of words and the dark and heavy theme but also the flow… your execution is always incredibly good and effective.
Actually I read it in my head.. to get that beat into the text.. very much the same as you are writing sonnets…
Ha! Brilliantly done – and a very innovative and exciting thought…just like an actor given one of the Kim’s roles, a writer feels an excitement of writing from their perspective. Enjoyed very much.
Oh yes.. I can hear this being read aloud at a stadium with Kim sitting there in the middle smiling carefully.
I can hear your voice in this, Bjorn (yes, I got to listen to it a few times — accents ROCK!). Articulate and well-written as usual.
Ha.. yes this would work — as Managua said… an actor doing the propaganda work of Kim..
Who is Kim?
Ah.. I intended to bring a North Korean tweak to it.. 🙂
Ah, yes. Kim Jong Un, maybe?
Indeed.. or his father or grand-father…:-)
I can just appreciate and clap. 🙂
Thank you 🙂
I really liked this depiction of those who are at the receiving end of propaganda, who believe because it is safer than not believing. In writing about the grey beyond, you have captured the grey within.
Greyt point .. .actually that’s where you find it..
Dark, dark, dark. We have elections here tomorrow and there are some vile people getting too much airtime here right now… Very well-reflected in this piece, Bjorn.
Scary that you felt it at home — I thought about North Korea.
Yes – awful people are everywhere, it seems.
“our missile heads and army stand against the misery of what’s beyond”
Then actually create more misery when used. Lovely rhythm in this piece Bjorn. Thank you.
Indeed.. but with a strong military you will never understand what it does to you…
Very powerful imagery to make a powerful point, Bjorn. I, too, thought of North Korea.
Even scarier if people think about UK when I intended it to be about North Korea.
I love everything about this. Perfect pitch for a terrible reality.
Thank you.. yes terrible is only the first point of it…
I love the way you make poetry from the most drab and dismal situations, Bjorn. Very powerful.
janet
Maybe I should start to write Propaganda for some dictator?… but I guess I would find it hard to hide the ironic part of it.
I think you’d too soon be in jail or worse. Poetry doesn’t hide everything and irony is sometimes even obvious to the blind.
I find North Korea just plain sad. All these people fawning to a buffoon with a silly haircut, writing down every word he says. The sooner North Korea joins the rest of the world the better.
Ah… but they simply believe what hey are being told.. but it’s very sad..
As always I love the voice.
Thank you.. I spend some time placing the words right..
Pure poetry!
Very powerful, and I find it one of the creepiest and darkest stories simply because there are countries where these beliefs are held to be absolute truth.
I totally agree… absurd but creepily true
Expertly done, Bjorn!
Thank you Jan
Powerfully potent 🙂
Thank you
I didn’t picture a particular country, just a sketch of a particular leader – the Autumn of the Patriarch, the gracious leaders who are out for themselves only.
It was so dark, so mocking, so seemingly unaware of its own irony. Loved it!
The simple “Kim” at the end absolutely made this for me. Nice work.
Chilling. Well written. Unsettling. This could also be about Nazi Germany, other regimes, etc…Although I immediately thought of North Korea…
Who me? Oh that other Kim in North Korea. This frightening but so well written.
Intense piece, Bjorn, very well crafted.
Love it.
Expertly done. A surprising take on the picture indeed! Living in Greece, surrounded by non-too friendly nations, we get diversified perspectives of what lies out there, so in that sense, we’re lucky. Our “background” is not that “foggy”.
Greetings from Greece!
Maria (MM Jaye)
Love the insight into the mind of Little Kim, Dennis’ friend. Reality through the dictator’s glasses.
I love the flow of this story. I especially like “You tell of terrors, you tell of foes”. Such a strong and powerful phrase!
Powerful and true, Björn! Politics is indeed such a murky, dark world at times… that single, last word, really delivers.
It is terrifying how people can be misled, blinkered and unable to see the truth, and all we can do is watch in horror from the other side. Brilliant take on the prompt.
Very well-written, very human, and very scary! Great job, Bjorn.
mindless masses looking to a crazed psychopath for salvation. That IS scary.
You have done it again Bjorn and boy have I missed reading your awesome writing!Such a true picture,this and the sentence,”Our patch of freedom in a hostile world”,just blew me away!You sure pack a powerful punch!
Yes, sir… Our morale always wins! So True!!
That was excellent. I caught the “kim” aspect. I like the line “our patch of freedom in a hostile world”.. Well done. Lucy
Perhaps one day we’ll sing: “Go tell Aunt Rhody, the old grey goose (-stepper) is dead”.
Well told. I’m going to bed tonight extra grateful. Thank you. Beth
A different perspective from behind the fence. Well done, Bjorn. Amazing piece.
Fine one… strong call.
Dear Bjorn – Politics is hopeless and dark – always has been and always will be – There are 1 or 2 generations in each century that get to live in happy times, well governed, then you get the garbage for the rest. You are a deep thinker Bjorn – well done! Nan 🙂
Powerful political prose.
Been reading stupid comments by Tea Party-ers lately?
Ha, tea-partyers and north-Korean – yes they might share similar views from opposite side of the fence.
Wow! Packs a huge punch for just 100 words, Bjorn. Good job.
Bjorn,
Nicely handled. There’s a fine line between keeping your chin up and being completely delusional. I enjoyed your foray into politics this week, and that’s saying something. 😉
Cheers!
MG
Great piece of satire here. I’m sure that’s exactly how they are thinking in North Korea. Can it happen to us? Too bloody likely!
as always, masterfully written with an intense theme yet how smooth it flows as i read it. superb!
A really original way to go with the prompt. The matter-of-factness of, ‘Those of different mind we’ll send away, …’ is so unsettling. It can happen to so many in so many different ways.