Challenge 627

Put That iPhone Down, Babe!

In Mike Acker’s “The Selfie,” how does the poem reflect current events? Hint: How long before people are shooting guns that look like just about anything?
In David Adès’ “When the Waves Came Over Us”:
1. Does the poem overstep BwS’ “dead narrator” guideline as outlined in “Dead Narrators and Ghosts” and the discussion?
2. Does the “dead narrator” guideline apply to non-fiction as well as fiction? If it doesn't, would BwS be opening the door to poems and memoirs from ghosts? Might an old saying need to be updated? “On the Internet, nobody knows if you’re a ghost.”
In Kallirroe Agelopoulou’s “Tetrapolis”:
1. How might the story be read as an allegory of current events? How does the story explain the meaning of the title “Tetrapolis”? It’s not just “four cities”; what else does it mean?
2. What might be the significance of Kane’s remembering Wagner’s music? In what way does he remember it? What other sounds does Kane hear?
3. What people are being “relocated” and “rehabilitated”? What do they lose in the process?
In Morris Marshall’s “The Power of ‘Not’”:
1. Given Paul’s propensity to anger, what other meeting place might Dean have chosen to make his confession than an abandoned house in the north woods?
2. Dean says that the magical necklace requires a reconciliation in order for it to work. Are Dean and Paul really reconciled?
3. How many wishes does the nurse get? And is she entitled to them? Has she been reconciled with anyone?
4. Does Paul really need a magical necklace in order to overcome his character flaws?
5. How might the story be played as comedy rather than as a moralistic tale?

Responses welcome!