#Not Safe For the Hoffburg

[sternenwald]

I desire to live

But I also desire to die.

To meet Death and feel his embrace.   To feel his lips on mine, aching and agonizing and sweet.  To feel my breath catch and falter.  To be broken and overmastered.

And finally Frei sein.

(Death isn’t freedom, but the ache in my chest whispers something.)

The two do not have to be at odds.

~

Ich begehren zu leben

Aber ich begehren auch den Tod treffen und mich umarmen. Um seine Lippen auf meine, schmerzen und quälen und süß zu fühlen. Um meinen Atem zu fangen und zu fälschen. Gebrochen und überwältigt werden.

Und Frei Sein.

(Der Tod ist nicht Freiheit, aber der Schmerz in meiner Brust flüstert etwas.)

Die beiden müssen nicht im Widerspruch stehen.

Immerhin gibt es alle Zeit...

[jcmcmann-blog]

Homeless For A Purpose

The concussive, stale smell of littered streets hung in the city like a mist. The smell was almost tangible it was so thick. While your nose is gasping for fresh air, the chaotic noise of the city challenges your ears to search through the mess to find a pleasant tone. People filter through the streets like zombies scattering in all directions. It is impossible to stay focused on one thing due to all the movement and commotion happening every second. East Liberty is obviously not known for its cleanliness. The people who inhabit the city seem to fit right into the environment. You’d be hard pressed to find a face that isn’t red with rage or blue with empathy. Such a place seems extraterrestrial to outsiders.

Despite the city wreaking with hopelessness and hotdogs, there is one rose among the thorns. A piercing light that cuts away at the dark. A hero to which all people can admire. Her name being Penny Power; the penny savior. This shining knight swoops down from the heavens and rescues innocent pennies that have been carelessly abandoned in the concrete jungle. Whisking them away to a safe haven where they are cared for. The hectic streets aren’t safe for helpless pennies. The cold, rough ground chips away at the pennies while footsteps constantly bombard them. Most people wouldn’t give a second thought to seeing a defenseless penny on the ground, but Penny Power is always there to be the pennies savior.

Some see her as a hero who selflessly risks her life to save the pennies. Others see her as a wild vigilante who needs to fit into the zombified norm and stop her nonsensical ways. No one knows her true identity however. Conspiracy theorists say she’s one of Hillary’s pawns who gathers up pennies in order revive a suffering election attempt. Admirers say she’s an angel who heard the desperate pleads of the pennies and is now liberating them. Although both ideas are plausible, they are far from the actual truth.

Penny Power’s true identity is Helga Hoffburg. Helga is not one of Hillary’s slaves nor is she an angel; she’s an average woman. Although this average woman has above average motives. When Helga was a little fiery red-head girl, she found a penny on the street. When she kneeled down to pick up the battered penny, a flaming car tire rocketed through the sky just inches away from her head. She looked to the origin of the flaming projectile and saw a DeLorean that had smashed into a tree. A young boy with an orange puffy coat who looked like he came from the 1980’s exited the car alongside an old man wearing a lab coat with goggles on his forehead just beneath the white balding hair. Helga believed that the little beaten up penny saved her life that day and pledged her soul to saving helpless pennies whenever she could.

She couldn’t do these heroic feats as Helga however. As Helga she was vulnerable, she was weak. She needed to be something more, a symbol, something that couldn’t be destroyed. It was that day she gave life to her new destiny. She rushed inside the house and began meticulously piecing together a costume that would strike fear into the hearts of pesky penny perpetrators. She donned copper colored leggings along with a shirt that read “I love Abe”. She pondered the thought of a cape but decided against it since she has seen the Incredibles movie.

With this new identity she needed to separate herself from Helga. Helga needed to be the exact opposite of Penny Power. Helga would be a poor, homeless bag girl who would feed birds precisely cut pieces of bread like clockwork every day. Since Penny Powers liberates pennies daily, she must be rich. Therefor Helga must be a poor homeless woman. Helga’s secret has been kept ever since. Penny Powers is still viewed as an unearthly savior among the people of East Liberty and Helga is seen as a lonely homeless woman with no direction in life.

Although rescuing persecuted pennies is what Helga has wanted all her life, she sometimes finds peace and comfort in being herself. Although some people have been suspicious as to how Helga can be homeless yet seemingly buy infinite amounts of bread to throw at birds. She claims that she helps out at a cancer charity and gets paid in copious amounts of bread. Most doubters lack the capability to care to investigate further and go about their merry way.

Although some people find Helga’s story suspicious and wrinkle up their face in confusion as they put their hand to their chin. To those people Helga lobs a piece of bread near them, then the thunderous roar of flapping feathers can be heard as a dark cloud engulfs the doubter. Then, once the cloud of fierce fowl disburse, the doubters is miraculously gone. Helga’s face grows a small grin as she picks up a penny and caresses it in her fragile hands. No one will know her secret.