Writers -- PE-Q

Pete Lutz is a native of Illinois and a U.S. Navy retiree who finished his military career in South Texas and decided to stay. A lover of and writer of poetry since youth, Pete is the creator of several audio drama series, and a collection of his scripts was just published this year.

Radioactive Ron

RADIOACTIVE RON, a Tale of an Apocalypse

A Crown of Sonnets

Suggested by Juan Manuel Perez

"Radioactive Ron is on the air,

With tunes to make you wanna twitch your hips;

And some designed to make you sit and stare,

And contemplate this new apocalypse."

I say this ev'ry day as I sign on,

Repeat it sev'ral times in case they hear:

For survivors, are there any? Patty? John?

Family, friends? Or strangers, far or near?

And in-between I broadcast every song

That I can get my hands on, jazz or rock,

Hip-hop, R-and-B, plus Muni Long,

Or William Haley's "Rock Around the Clock".

Music doesn't matter; message does:

To wit: Earth ain't the place she used to was.

To wit: Earth ain't the place she used to was,

And everything just happened all at once –

One day your baby's face is soft as fuzz,

The next he's tatted up and smoking blunts.

Don't ask me why, I'm up here all alone:

The twenty-seventh level is my lair.

There's no one left to call me on the phone,

Or join me, sitting in that other chair.

We're getting power, no one sends a bill –

How long we'll have it, only heaven knows.

And thus the empty hours do I fill,

Like the emp'ror, my purpose has no clothes.

But naked though it be, what helps me cope?

That thing with feathers, Emily's friend, hope.

That thing with feathers, Emily's friend, hope

Sustained me in the early days of this,

When I was strung out, feeling like a dope

And standing 'bout an inch from the abyss.

I screamed, I cried, I called out ev'ry name

Of ev'ryone I'd seen the day before:

My wife, my kids, my friends! And then my shame

At stealing unpaid items from a store;

But hope soon drew me backward from the ledge.

I reasoned that there couldn't be just me;

So in my heart I made a tearful pledge:

My fellow humans, where'er you may be,

Find you I duly must, I told myself.

I took determination off the shelf.

I took determination off the shelf,

And like a shawl upon my shoulders wear;

I'm sending out my words, up north of Guelph,

And south of Rio, bouncing on the air.

For entertainment's sake, my voice ain't much,

And these old records really show their age.

If you hear me, I hope you'll get in touch –

But zombies, please just shuffle past my cage.

Although, to tell the truth, I think I might

Be glad to see the stumbling undead pass;

See somethingmoving, other than the light,

Or the wind as it shifts the dying grass.

It doesn't really change much here, the view:

It's nice enough, but better seen by two.

It's nice enough, but better seen by two,

And by now, I'm not picky – I don't care -

Male or female, dog or pony, kangaroo –

All free to join me in that other chair.

It serves me, usually, to act aloof:

To act as if I wouldn't even glance

At another living being's foot, or hoof –

'Blivious as Joe Cool at his school dance.

It's always quiet, but even more at night,

And at these times aloofness goes bye-bye:

Emotion swallows me – my throat grows tight,

And saved-up lonesome tears for hours I cry.

'Til I emerge next morning, hoarse, and spent:

Another day to shine and represent.

"Another day to shine and represent!"

I tell myself each morning as I choose

The records that would make me president

If tunes were votes instead of rock and blues.

I represent mankind in glory full:

"Today, no war!" ironically I shout;

"Peace prevails!" My symbol is a gull:

Unfortunately, doves have all died out.

From my tower I can see an unmanned tank,

Empty Humvees, big guns topside-mount;

But Generals and Colonels I outrank:

My "Last Man Standing" status? Don't discount.

I flip a switch – into the mic I stare: