Gray Flicker of Perfect Confusion (Ode to the Watcher-over-er)

I dedicate the following haiku* to the Man/Woman/Child who's "Them that createth the words and definitions in dictionaries:"

                                                Monosyllabic

                                                Five syllables
                                                What the fuck.

Sir/Madam/Rugrat, I salute you!

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* Flexible-form Western style, not traditional Japanese 17-on structure, in 

   case you wondered.  I'm sure my high school English teachers would be

   appalled (considering their extensive experience with Eastern poetic 

   forms - as if I have any).

   Though an on is not strictly a syllable, it seems to work for most
   Americans.  So, if our dictionary-writing friend had simply matched the
   word to the meaning, rather than being a mischievous little prankster,
   with the "salute" becoming the fourth line...voila.

   Though I must concede, it would make the ditty above rather irrelevant.
   A haiku can also be a song!  Go ahead, sing it to yourself or those around
   you.

Brent Tharp

Soul on Fire

    And so it came to pass in those days, that a famine had set upon the earth.  Feeding on the general malaise of the people, a power arose from the East, and gradually enlisted the populace to its armies.  Several men rose to power, mostly through cunning, but some through brute force.  One of these was particularly gifted in both areas, and became the man that many looked up to, or at least feared.  In most quarters, the men and women of knowledge and privilege called him Charles, or the Conqueror.  But amongst the serfs, he was known as The General, the Slayer, or Lucifer (often shortened to Luke when speaking in the open).
    The General's power had become so great, in fact, that many considered him the supreme ruler, and were ready to lay down their weapons for him at any pass.  Because of this, many men of independent beliefs had subjugated their lives to serve a person whose motives they truly didn't know, but preferred that to the uncertainty of what would happen to the first person to openly rebel against his power.
    The Great One, looking down from above, was told of The General's great power, and of his stranglehold on the lives of the people.  Believing this was wrong, not so much because it was wrong to control the people, but because he was not the one doing it, The Great One sent an avenging angel to earth to smote The General.  And so it was to be.