Challenge 630

Foul Line, Fair Line

1. In Jim Toal’s “Trim,” Alex and Mel split up by undergoing a process of memory erasure at Lakeview. Is the procedure completed? What might happen if their memories were erased only back to the time at which they first fell in love?

2. In Ada Fetters’ “Colorblind Chameleon,” do Emery’s assailants know he is visually handicapped? In what ways is Emery’s visual perception described?

3. In John Grey’s “Here’s the Deal,” the narrator “I” addresses “you.” Aside from “the woman you married,” how many persons are really in this poem?

4. In Anselmo J. Alliegro’s “The Magdalene Heist,” why might the crooks not need Archimedes’ advice?

5. In Stephen Ellams’ “My Faith and Wisdom Hat”:

   1. Who is “you”? Whom is the narrator addressing?
   2. Does the narrator want to get married or what?

6. In Edward Ahern’s “The Game”:

   1. What might “artificial rules” mean? All rules are “artificial” in the sense that they can be changed, and all sports evolve.
   2. Baseball has a long history. Does the poem imply that the game itself is moribund?
   3. How might the poem have an opposite interpretation, that baseball survives despite the collapse of civilization?

Responses welcome!

Copyright © August 3, 2015 by Bewildering Stories
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