Evie Shockley

Going into this reading I had no idea who Evie Shockley was and had never read any of her poems. With that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I liked most of the poems she read. One thing I have learned from going to all of these readings is that more than anything else, it is the way an author reads their own work that is most intriguing. This is especially true with Evie Shockley. She was very careful in which words she emphasized and which words she did not, which really changes the way one thinks about a poem. I thought this was pretty cool. Another aspect of the reading that I liked is when Shockley spoke about her poetry writing process. She said that when she goes to write a poem she usually does not have particular idea in mind that she wishes to write about. She said she instead focuses on playing with the words to create unique sounds on the page. You could tell this was especially true in the final set of poems that she read out loud. These poems took every day sayings and combined them into a single line of thought, creating a very distinctive style. There is no doubt in my mind Evie Shockley is an extremely talented writer.

Playing God

“It doesn’t have to be like this!” Connor cried out from the back seat of the car as it sped south on Route 19. He could feel the hard plastic of the zip-ties cutting into the edge of his wrists behind his back. He had no idea who these men were or why they grabbed him. Who are these people? What the hell do they want me for?

“Shut up kid.” The tone of the first stranger’s voice was unmistakably serious. This man meant business.

Connor sat perched in the middle of the back seat of a small sedan. He could see the bright lights of stores outside as they flashed in and out of the car in the night. He couldn’t make out where they were on the high way. Slowly leaning to his left to try and get a better look out into the night, Connor felt a firm hand on his shoulder. It yanked him back into the middle of the seat followed by a quick fist to the bridge of his nose.

“I told you sit still son. This is only gonna get worse the more you struggle.” Stranger number two was just as serious and stranger number one.

The taste of blood slowly made its way to Connor’s lips. The warmth of the blood spread across his face, half suffocating him as he tried to wipe some of the blood off on his right arm sleeve. Why are these guys doing this to me? He tried to focus in on the physical features of the two mean in the front seat. They were both big, bigger than him at least. From what he could tell neither of them were in great shape, there wasn’t enough light shining in to get a good look at their faces. Plus it didn’t help his eyes were swelling up after having his nose broken.

Stranger number one throws the car into a hard right and then slams on the breaks. The car stops as both men get out of the front seat. Then in perfect synchronization both back doors open. Thud. Connor feels two of his right ribs crack as he hits the mud, a small rock in the ground juts into his side. It starts to rain.

“Take him over behind that old shed.”

Connor can’t tell which of the men doing the talking. He’s in too much pain to tell a difference.

“Stop! Please I can make this right,” wincing from pain Connor tries his best to plead with the strangers.

“There ain’t nothing you can do to fix this boy. Better say your prayers.” The man’s shadowy voice faded off into the darkness. Then picked Connor up, dragging his body through the mud and dead leaves piled on the ground.

Connor closed his eyes and thought of his family. He thought of his Mother and his Father and how neither of them would ever get to see him again. He thought of his girlfriend Natalie and how he wished to hold her one last time. Tears began to flow down his face. Thoughts of his own faults raced through his mind, how he longed to have done more to make it Father proud, to make is parents proud. Yet here is was in the cold dark rain, lying face first in the mud. His train of thought was broken as he was put up on his knees.

“This is for what you did to Kyle.”

Connor froze, as if caught in time. He finally knew what this was for. The cold tip of a gun barrel rested at the back of his neck. For a second, he felt alone. Then he felt nothing at all.