Young writers, whether in Stevens Point or Paris, have to begin
somewhere, which means thOt they hove to see their work in .Print.
So welcome to Insert, which will be good for its contributors, good
for all of us. who wish the young well. There must be very few
writers around who do not recoil with wonderment still those fi rst
steps down the road, whose best leg was the earliest. In many cases
it was in o campus magazine, or newspaper insert, that they
began, and they were soon to find out that out there, beyond the
university walls, the chances for that kind of exposure were extremely limited. Need one odd that a thick skin is as important os
talent to a writer, and that the sooner · one starts growing it the
better? Which leads me to this: may Inse rt be the best it can
possibly be, bold, bright and even. a little - yes - careless, for
only if it becomes and stays that will it lost longer than the writing
wh ich surrounds it. I wish it a stimulating life.
Lucien Stryk
v
THE INSERT
Januory 1968
Volume 1, Number 1
Contact with Tho11ght: Pennr U"i•ertity
A university is, by contemporary lnterpre!~!!6n, o . community
of scholars using communal resources on_d foc•.ht1es wh•le occumu-.
fating e lements of a vocational educohon w1th frequent checks
·
upon progress towards THE DEGREE.
~~~:f:~r~~=f~i:i;~'lr~7!1~'~~~?;~~f;~~e?~u~~~t!',?~is~~
~ff;~ ,~r~h~~~,se~E"~EG~~E~ ~h~~~~r~d i~~T~~nGJDEt~~
of
· perforroing under the psuedonym faculty. All in the realm
is over-seen, coordinated, programme~, bud!iJeted, encouraged or
discouraged by the professional odmmlstrot1on.
How do you describe the advent of a literary supplement - The
Insert? Was it planned- or just o "koppening"? Was it lounch<:d
- and might it soil off the edge? Was it created - and if so,
~:.~eo~d ~~ g~:!P wohtpeo~ !~,•h"o i~i~~~::s~o ~~~~~s.ti~ ~h!
creative elforts of this campus. Editors viewed poems, 1titoture
and drawings critically.
It then "happened" a s loy t people
began WOtking poems and drawings into "random" pollerns to
create o kind of spontaneous and visual accord with the Insert itself.
It was l01..1nched as a pilot project to proYide the kind of exposure
novice writers and artists need and to give all individuals on this
campus the opportunity to expose themselves to different e~Cperi·
ences as they become involved in the universe of o pointing or o
poem. It con also fall off the edge as writers do not submit
materials in good faith, and the editaf"s foil to judge material as
objectively as possible. It is up to you to see tl'lot neither 'Of these
happen.
It is you who created The Inse rt, you who submitted your artworks,
ond you who recognized a need for · 0 paper completely devoted
to creative effOI'ts. You aS the audience and you.t.os the writers
must simultone<XJsly contribute to the spirit in which The Insert
is offered by your actual submission of material, and your comments
on · the publicat ion itself. If The Insert is to succeed, it must be
successful in your viewpoint. Its perpetuation depends on your
reactions. Make them known.
Jeri H11en1phter
.. . . Poge 2
. ..... Poge 3
Poetry
Yosh~0 'ouo'ru~
~~~!~s p~c!c~~'=s ~ u~~~~":e~~s0~~~~::al~~~~d1rob'le~!
~~e,',1~· ~~lle0~4ain!i~or;~, ~~~~~r~~!i~r'~' ~f:,j ~~~g~~
then rcod and tive and do those thmgs for SOCiety wh1ch need
doing. Will they know how to think a fter four years of going
through the process . in o disciP.Iine?
A penny university is not grand. or epic. It is .not o. major
education program. It is so humble m po5tur~ that 11 corr1es the
lowest monetary unit within its conceptual term1norogy. To answer
the ou umed question: what is a penny university? one must chatter
with abstracts and conclude by suggesting further research into
potential for the concept; but let us mo.ke o poof' attempt.
A penny university is on intro:'university. . Its classroom focil·
flies may be o Iorge round table m the Grl~.ron pop.uloted ~. a
chemistry major, English instructor, drama motor, hous1ng odmm1s- .
trotor and conservation major discussing new ways of preventing
T~~ 11After~ !fhl~. d~';9.!~n e,:~~~~~~~~~~he0~~~
in-the*oll on Thur~oy night or Little Joe's
survive where the attitude is right.
But it will onlr
As illustrated in the preceding, elements of o penny university
exist at WSU-Stevens Point, but only e lements of it. A penny ·
university must be the upbeat of the external university's downbeat.
:~~~~s r~hito~~~~"i~'p~:~:;~~~~· ;~r~J~~! ~i!:~
Contents
Penney University
by Steve Peeck
2
A revolution is not necessary and con, for that matter, be·o
greater power of destructi~ t.hon. revision,. But revision is worth
considering if the ort of .th1nk1ng IS to go1n the throne. The ere·
olive ability of academia is desperately needed by o world which
has grown too fast faf" its developers. Original and c reative
thinking must s.eek solutions to bombs, brutality ond twentieth
century barbarism. It is feore~ the "ed~otionol proc:es~" is . ~e
Clark
................. Poge 5
of imagination to interoc:t with minds of analytical bent, and indi·
viduals of oc:odemic and living experience to relate with young
explorers. It thrives on enlightment. Where it is inappropriate
for the university to-enc<XJroge students to attend o particular professor's regular lectures because these lectures ore of o .qual~ty
:~ ~~~ ~~s~~~~~~i;!n~;et~~;hiie~~,~~ti'g. 0~~ Gf;'te~n~~:~
a political science professor with on octuol class enrollment of
~,:rf;~e~ ~~~~~~~s t!~r'!ir~u~u~er'a~~~i~tyf~n·~o~; ~~
A"
DJQ
Drawing by f. Kalke
..... . . . .. .. Page 3
The Six
Drcrwing by J. Cutler
........ ·. . . Poge J
J's Best
Drawing by B. Athorp .
. .. . Poge 4
Self Portrait
Drawing by B. Athorp
Page 5
Seated Figure
Drawing by J. Cutler .
. .... Poge 6
Michoel Harper
Co•e• Design
storidees in attendance. . A profesSOI' of the drama deportment on
this same campus gets free publicity of his famous lectures on
George Bernard Show, and also finds himself speaking to a group
three or four times the number enrolled i'l the course.
diti~e r~;~vo~~ ";~'re;:~~~ is~rrr:~!~~(~e~~j~~ncro;
the thrill and beauty of thot activity hos produced m inds history
pays honor to.
• We hove here on introduction of the term but very little said
~r~~:~~~:~~:t\~s~n;~~:i'X.sy~~i~~f~~r~ ~0s~~~~
gathering of persons representing diverse disciplines on this campus
at o specified location ot a specified time which will devote itself
to articulating o definit ion ond means of implementing the penny
university, at Stevens Point.
Ste•e Peeck
Stoff
Co-editors
Art editor .
Poetry editors
Review editors
1-./
Short story editors
Layout ..
...... Michael Harper, Jeri Huempfner
. .. Edwin C. Koike
. . Kurt J ohnson, Lynn LoBrot
... . Lawrence Krousko. Aro O'Connell
. Bonnie Blakey, Fronk May
. ..... Jeri
Hue~pfner,
Ed Koike
their ~;h:~-;e~s wm~o~~ terr~~ew~~s ~eCt!~heo~es~att;~~
~':S: ~r~st= 1~0r~! ~no,'~:~ b:t~e~~ ~h~ ~~sS: oq~~~~a:'~es.:,';~
their aloneness.
Lucien Stryk
Lucien Stryk was brought up in Chicago
o~
otlended lndi,no
~~v~~~"(j~~~:r;it;t~~l~~~: 0 ~~0';\~'s o;~b;~~di!;~~ ~~':;i
poetry, including Taproot , The Treposser, and Note• for a Guide·
book. Stryk has a lso hod prose and ve rse published in over fifty
periodicals and anthologies ranging from The Liltener (London) and
the Sot11rdor Re•iew to university quarterlies. He has held o Ful·
bright'lecrureship in Iron and twice hos been a Visiting Lecturer
in Jopon. At present he teaches Creative Writing ond Oriental
Literature at Northern Illinois University.
We h~e learned to form sounds and symbols into meaningful
communicative illusions, thot we might shore each others comedies
and tragedies. These few sheets of unimportant paper then become
the inTra-university's playground o f contact. The ln•ert becomeS
the screen with projections of those who burst kaliedoscoping light,
the people who otherwise sit in silence in your chemistry or history
classes. These people often speak too softly to those who poss by
too quickly.
.
.
So, let The Insert become the calendar and scrapbook of the
Penny University.
Michael Harper
~
Alewi'l'es
The fog moved slowly, clumsily
Obscuring t he vision of orange lifeguards
Small fish rotted on the beach
Having completed their earthly cycle. •
• Flies come to feed on the decomposing
Fulfilling t heir destiny in endless revolving
~~f~g c~~~ ~n:~1hiy ~h~ldt~'f~reshy sol'ld
The sun pierced the fog
Al'ld was obsorlled into flesh olive and dead
~n ui~~u~~;a~~~~~tt~0~!r cbsorbing
The Joke still draws t he seekers
Washed and baptized omoi'lgst the fish
Five minutes of sun ol'ld two of water
Perpetuate the· common miracle.
T he Brahrnt
The strains of the piano melody,
Carried upOn airy waves,
Seeped into my smiling slumber,
Bringing with it o scene of quietude: The steady rise ol'ld fall
Of the might Ocean,
With his d roplets of tumbling snow;
The snuggling Breu.e
.
Secreted quietly among the silent P1nes;
The lulling sway
Of t he sleeping Poplar
s~ t~;e d~~~ ~rir~
The peaceful Clouds
The Eogle At Lerge
I am now twenty-one a nd
my homster is dead.
It's not sa funny when
you consider
oher all these years
the only thing
I could core for
wos o crummy "rot"
or sa my father called it.
I'm still not sure what
mode it die.
I wos sick ol'ld when I
got out of bed
ond walked ove r
to its box
it was already stiff.
Perhaps it was getting old
or caught my cold when
I kissed its fur
or maybe it knew
its death
would make me ul'lderstond
one heart must find
another its own kind.
Lynn LaBrot
Ta J .
G~,
Hopefully
Is the re o leaf
which con fall
without taking same part
o f the tree in silence,
can rain foil
without leaving
same life in the mather
which bare him,
do not be sad for days
that ore still
tomorrow,
be joyous for the brief
moments thot ore
waiting for the silent
snows, ,
for spring may bring
new hopes whick
will leave in another
Autumn.
Michae l Harpe r
A brooding eye that raises
o vicious spear
~~ ts~~:~tered
jtkdrowol his talons stroke
o disgorging love
his feathers twist o dying spark
kissed against cold-shattered rock.
In his beak
o poiwn snake
thot sucks venom.
Reposing lo:r.ily
Beneath the quiet breathing of the Sky.
A crash of sovnd
Within the Brahms And the vibra nt Ocean
Stirred with angry Gray.
The waves g rew high as towers
And fell to giant volleys,
The froth seethed and foamed
And bottled the cha'flng Gray;
The rising W ind
Whistled and shrilled
~~Op:~~ :c:~::rrn p~7f!t,
Stroi'l'led by the rocking torture
Of yielding to the tearing W ind;
lJr
t~!r~~~~"ftn:irWillow
_
Blew from o face stork with fear;
Al'ld now wrathful Thunderclouds
Rolled in deadly throes,
Spitting streaks of scorched spear
At one another,
Hurtling hated epithets
Sounded from deep within A slightest pause
And sweetened melody Of'ICe mare
Flowed . into my ear.
The solitary
eagle whose screams
ore amused mossocres.
The heavy wings
which ride
·'"'"
fall· and seem to conquer.
ViYian C. KO'I:oskl
ViYian C.
Kosct~kl
3
The Participator
'J::J ~~~t,1 ~ft t1~~:~ni~. d ies.
Paulo Hoyde':'
Red Reality
The flash of o clock
Three o'clock
rofn on my tin shed roof
o h:J:omrno~r~g~~~~m';Y feet
the ring of hoze
ond three witches stirring
my liver inside
pole foces pressed
hord ogoinst the rain
o shudder of gunfire for
edgi"fou~o·~k poSTure
birds on my roof
o curling cot ot my elbow
eyes on my eyes
toil on my eyelashes
o ring of cannibals
stirring my soft skin
my friend grasping
wonting my hand inside
the canyon well
o deer at the solt lick
f
Herding olong
they clomor over people ond places
Horns hOllering
curses crushing
Speed limits
and cocktail hours
They rush IO their jobs
only to rush home
They rush even the . deod
holes dug ond filled
Cars bought ond sold
men hired and fired
Factories producing
scholars studying
Taxes ond toilets
politicons ond poper
Efficiency charts
electric brains
The great socieTy · t rain
presses its iron wheels on
· over hill.
ond dole
And orr that stands before
Don hherwood
.....
five o'clock
sunshine on my fingers
o b lank screen of movies
white against the red web of eye ghosts
I' m awoke
ond I see the spidery talons
reaching . .
4
Fields and Rain
If I were to hold your hand
And run along o field
And squeeze your fingers now ond then
(When you looked into my eyes)
o,
Go barefoot in the rain
And splash o puddle
To get your legs oil wet
And see if you'd get mod
I might kiss your tender cheek ond go -
But
If I were more wistful
·•
And only dreomed of fields ond rain ,
(Naw tkot there ore other things to do)
•
111
Life on o Monorail
Here I sit listening.
Or om I listening?
"Did he soy life?
But life is died.
Doesn't he know life died?
I thought everyone knew
There wos o hill, Of'Ce green.
Now the hill is red, turning brown.
The red trickles down ond pools.
Oh I see, I see it oil.
~~~ 11 ~o:r~J'~u ~~~ t::":~e some
And wrote my nome in front of yours
The chances ore I'd pion to stay
And learn to show my love.
Lynn LoBrot
Barren Night
The desert cry
ond the sharp tongue
of desert soil
the finol breoth
of o fading shadow
rhe lost snop in
the jaws- of silence_
ond t he closing
of o flower's lfps
in the desert night.
Vi.-ion C. Kososkt
J 's Best
B. Athorp
I search through several thousands
Extending the hand to
""'·
Right orms entwine
ond tip rhe wine. Thus
Atone
Is gone.
Or so the tkought was thought.
And then tO understand One,
To goin the trust required,
I confused.
I frightened.
1 left.
Darn osk me why!
· Just fOfgive me
Atld I'll be ot eose.
The meeting of One's eyes
With mine,
Clasped hands insuring the trust,
Turning circles and tripping on words
Then soy it.
Soy it!
A'_'d
""'""''
I.
Lore
the str9ggling course of the island until the
flattened head of its body was last in a haze
to the north. The ·winds murmured their
way through the palm thatchi~ and ot night,
=~ti;:!'s d~~ft~gm~e:~,ir ~h~ ~hrst~~d
with o high, thin coli.
As he stood-there on the platform. the
moist worm wind .swaying the thatched hut,
Yoshida remembered that day several years
ago when the American troops hod landed
and recaptured one of the Iorge Islands of
the Philippine archipelago from the Japanese.
All of his comrades were either killed in
oclion or taken pri50ner by the enemy.
Yoshida also, was token prisoner and together with the others of his outfit, he wcs
put aboard o small wooden American P.T.
boot. The boot, with fivi! Americans in Com·
mond, was headed for the bose island to
deliver its foreign cargo.
Yoshida was o stropping young man of
twenty, then. He hod long muscular arms
~~m~an~rs'h~~~u~~~ssn'7~~h b1!~g~~ tJ;:t~h
Self Portroit
B. Athorp
Yoshida
by Duono Clark
The islands are beautiful ... Nat even
the wild hurricanes
. or the bitterness of
a life slipped past, can substract one portion
of the crystal beauty of these miraculous
circles in the sea.
Jomes A. Michener
The yeOrs hod loid o patina o f time less·
ness over the raggedly circular clearing and
the small hut of bamboo and bleached
thatching t hat was balanced with o winged
delicacy on slender poles. Coming upon it
suddenly, breaking out of the forest's deep
~fn~~n~i~~~~~nc~r~ s~seju~t':e~~
f~~ ,:~~e~~~~n~ ~~ta~;ee~~st 'Z!!~
always been. They were one with the long,
dry months of summer and autumn, swept
by the monotonous winds as they blew, east
to southeast from February to April, and
leaned upon os the invisible currents shifted
methodically to the southwest for the remaining months. The yellowed hut yielded ·
obediently to the storms, swaying os did the
h igh and feathered palms. It bent beneath
the impact, righting itself when the fury hod
passed. Under the heat of cloudless days it
took upon itself o life of its own and seemed
to move and grow as lizards hunted with
crisp sound through its tkotching.
In the great archipelago of the Philippines, the island was one of the loose scatter·
ings between the anchors of Luzon and
Mindono where, on charts, the points of
land seem to have ~?t-en marked by the coreless shaking of on 1nk.-filled pen over paper.
Here is the vast sea and deep loneliness.
The world of terrifying silence.
There hod been that time when the sky
above these islands hod seemed to e)(plode.
Machines roared and clanked, stuttered and
tore their way in fantastic waddles through
opposing undergrowth. Then the hurricane
of war subsided. The engulfing tide swept
post. Of its thunder not even o faint whisper
now remained upon the wind.
Along the coast, mangrove crept down
upon the water. The eternal, booming wash
o f the waves sucked and coughed within
the ~!lows and found no purchase among
the sl1my ottenoe so firmly anchored in coral.
Here and there the barrier was broken in
short, flat stretches of beach and in the
r=k!d : n, t t~i~~ie:, ~~
!c~~~~d ~~
'
withered.
. From the water the fond sloped impercept1b ly upward to o flattened spine heavily
matted with cogan gross. On the ridge
flourished the leftovers of a thousand similar
islands. They grew without order or purpose
in clumps of bamboo and oboco, patches of
luon and timdol wood, in almost solid walls
t~ii~~·a~ee~~~ ~~~sh!~ ~~e~ ~~~
heot and filled with the creeping and flying
things thot could torment a man to the point
of insonit .
human being than tho! of muscles olone.
~~d~~or:~~ll%10~r~~~s 0S,:-d~:X~~
over his shoulder. Then he began to wode
across the reef t hrough the dear·blue water.
The colors of the carol itself were
~~~~~:1~~~s~i';'~Y~~g:~n~e~::.~: ~~shb!!J;'::g
purples. It was the pastel colors however,
tho! continued to invite; his eye. There were
~~~~~e~in,:, sosc;11o b!~e 1:~~hry of'~~~~
that contained o dozen "3-:des. Only on o' - - -
~~;~r, ~~;f~~n d~:J :d ~:e ~~~n~~ ~:
color fades and vanishes. A~is while, the
American survivor was unconscious.
Yoshida Af'ruggl.d Ia keep his balance
as he waded ocrass the uneven bottom with
:,':r ~~: ti~ s~~:r .AmG:!fe0 1~::~~crshs~r~
brightly-colored patte rns and stubby t.slils
wriggled inquisitively In and out between his
legs. Anemones and carols gave t he wkole
reef the appearance of o rock garden covered
with mosses and cactus and fossili zed plants.
Yoshida followed the channels and ·stream
beds in the reef steadily and cc~efUI!y.
Because of the weight of the unconscl·
ous American sailor on his shoulder, Yoshida
stopped o moment to rest. He slowly low· ·
ered the limp body onto o carol block in .the
green-blue water and then straightened his
tired bock and looked up. There, off in the
the bright block marbles which looked from
his swarthy, beardless face. His bock was
straight and his brood shoulders moved only
slightly os he marched proudly with the other
Jopaf'lt'se soldiers.
For two"Oays the small wooden boot
drifted across the sea wi thout any sign of
land. During this time the Americans in
command were trying in vain to repair the
domoge and make contact with the civilized
~~s~~~e g~~~ t::':;~!;J fl'c:~rs~esembled o
world. Their only hope was that another
ship would see them. Both the Americans
Ycshida stooped down and with one
and the Japanese know that ohead of them,
swift movement he hoisted the body to his
somewhere in the vast Pacific Ocean, were
~~~~f~~::o:s so~o~:~is t=~e:hey~~~
the dangerous reefs that hod brought
destruction to many ships. They realized
with more hutrled steps. Ankle-deep, then
that to steer clear of them, the wind would
1
hove to continue blowing from the north. But
s:
on the morning of the fourth day the wind
heavenly palm island grew larger as it come
died owoy, and when it returned it hod gone
to meet them.
oround. to the east.
As his leader, water-filled shoes hit the
The facade of the coral reefs which
Yirgin sand beach, he stumbled several yards,
loy in ambush below the horizon were now
laid the American against o towering green
visible. The captain of the small wooden
~~~ti:!,~e
A1.e~e~ ~~~~~~~ ut~: ~:
vessel knew that he had only o few more
hours to prepare for the inevitable wreck
untied his soggy leather Infantry boots, and
on the cora l reef. The P.T. boot pitched up
~~~t
h-?C:~Jo
o~sh!eh.!~~,:~o ~t;eh;or::;
and down, up and down, as the wind forced
on the beach with the red tropical sun shootthem in. A chaos of waves rushed upon the
ing its golden rays into his water-logged body.
bobbing wooden craft one a fter another without stopping. High waves ond low waves'
Several hours toter, he awoke and sot
pointed waves and round waves, slontin9
up. The American was partially conscious
waves and woves on top of other waves.
and he was struggling to sit up. Yoshida's
There was turmoil in the sea os the waves
"brown fatigue uniform was dry, and the
hit the reef - some waves advancing while
muscles In his chest and arms were dried
others were hurled bock after beating in l
rawhide as he stood up and stretched: As
vain ogoinn the surrounding wall.
'
he looked OYer ot the American leaning
oooinst the tree, Yoshida iiOtlced he was
The sea was wild and confused. It spit
c lutching his side and gasping in pain.
foam and leaped high into the oreo Suddenly, it rose straight up under th'e boot
"the;:::y b~~t;n,ohth;rreri:.;- b~ke~n~:
and lifted it high into the air. As they sank
oh . . ."
down, the sea went rolling after them hissing
·
At that moment the American passed
like o huge steom roller and then ~ith one
out again. Quickly, Yoshida bent down and
· violent blow, submerged them under floods
tore open the dirty torn shirt a nd looked
of water. Yoshida felt the suction with such
at his chest. The re' were Iorge purple welts
power thot he hod to strain every muscle in
covering his ribs and stomach. In some
his leon body to hold onto the Io rge iron
roiling around the edge of the boot.
c::ds
The P.T. boot was still ofl6ot.
rusty-colored scabs. The J apanese went to
Suddenly, a nother white foamy wall rose
the smell brown knapsack which he hod reup and went towering towards the boot. In
covered from the wreck and got o con of
on instant, hell was ott aver them ogoin·
solve and o Iorge roll of white gauze. Slowly
and the small croft disappeared under t~
he wiped away as much of the dirt and
mosses of the thundering water. The sea
tugged and pulled a t the human bodies
clinging to the tottered wooden boot.
~::s~t~~·
':~~rh~f ~! =~~~e~'=!~
i':-.e
~~: c~~:~ed~~ f~~dd~oc~ i~~hi~~~
~~~~": i:r~ i~ss~rt~~~~biC:s~~~~ ~
t~~~~h~h;n~~u!~ :.C::~'li:O::~i:;'ing0~
thi~~~:. 'fair!~ fhls rt~in~~h~~~~;~:;
~~ssb9:~!ts~s~~~fth:itl~tt~e:,~~~~~~;~
his armpits and completely covered him to
h is waist. After he fin i!hc::! this he laid
When Yoshida bobbed to the surfoce,
Since the t ide hod not come in yet, and
probably wouldn't come in for severa l hours,
Yoshida put' on his hard leather boots and
o
!':~.tting human bodies into the cold angry
: e~f ~~y ;Ji~t~~:r p7!~s s~~l ~~;"?,~
the side of the boot - he was on American.
Yoshfdo's hands were nearly frozen to the
wood. • He looked around for more survivors
os the sea thundered on, aver and post the
remaining fragments of the shattered wreck
in those endless few seconds. The tiny vessel
was broken in half like o match.
0
and
was thrown upon the coral reef by the sea.
Yosh1da stood up m the clear blue water
on o sharp, rugged coral block
The
~~~~~~a : ;~c=i,;h~;s:;~~;1Y~
shilti~ ~~!!z!~~votX'n~~.~ u:ot~~~l'to,'~~:i~~';;"~o~~s~~~~~~~li~j~~=
~co;!,,~j~~edu~ :~~uc~;~n o~frfo:la!!
~~J":=a t,'!9~,:~te~h~tr~~~ ~~~~
-:=
~~ ~~v~r:dh':mcl~~~ ~~s::\jt b~~~k;/erns,
~~:~r ~~~f~~. ~n~~thti~, rt:!;, ~i~O:~
which they could use on the island.
After
:~~~~'(' f~~se~~;,'1~,d~ ~~~;,' h~~~
across two wooden bo)(es bobbing like marker
~bo~~s t~~ ~ltbi;'~~~~s :~h;:Jed'~~
towards the island. The sun was going down
slowly in the west and the Japanese hod ci
difficult time weaving his woy bock ~t
the shorp, jogged coral. Twice, he slipped
and fell into the salty gray water making
him oil the more determined ot reach the
sandy beoch once again. The carol skeletons
(Conti"utd o" poge 6¥
5
beckoned to him louder and louder until
finally he trudged up out of the grey
foomy water and out of the clutches of the
coral onto the worm sand. Yoshida fell to .
his ~e: :'!t~~r~n5~~e~~~7J;h~~Oke os •
the sunbeams began dancing on his face.
He stood up and walked toward the middle
.of the island. The polm tops closed over
his head. He could see the green coconuts
hanging under the polm tufts, and some
buskes covered with snow-white blossoms
which smelled sweet ond seductive. He
::~~~ t~~~egh to1::,~ ~~~;hi?J~wc~vegrh~!
shoulders.
Then as he stepped into o smell clearing
rte ~0~ b:fr~= :i:r~~~~~~t~f ~~: ~~~~:
It hod o gloss top with sunlight sprinkled
on it. The bottom of the lagoon wos white
like a huge porcelain bathtub ond the water
was fresh and clear. A trio of blazing green
parrot fish swam by os Yoshida dropped o
:i;:l~s y~l~l ~~tii~~s. the water sending
Yoshida turned end ambled slowly bock.
to the beach. The American was owok.e now
ond he wos gelling up slowly from h is bed
of ferns. His nome wos Jock. Slade. He
mooned os he tried to pick. his scrawny
weather-beaten body from the ground. His
ribs a rched ond his lungs throbbed with poin
with every breath he took. He turned. with
on C?9:"y:ec:h:x~~d~ onbo~o~dr~ ~~?~;
he asked grimly looking herd at Yoshida.
The Japanese nodded his heocl f<K he did
understand some English however he
spoke verx little.
.
"Oh,' Slade soid quietly with a smirk
on his chopped lips. "Patched up ~ o Jop,
huh, whot do you think about tha t?' Slade
turned end walked down the beech towards
the reef.
Noticing the two wooden boxes on the
~"t;:i:d~~~:~t~i~H~-~e :h~~~ ~x~sst~~~
here?"
Yoshida looked ot him stupidly he
could not answer. He only shook his 'head
ond shrugged his shoulders.
Slade bent down ond tore the cover off
~~!n!:J:' o~\w;n~~h;;;rekn~~!~al H~!:~
out one of the knives ond opened the second
box. It was filled with SeQ rations: Taking
his knife, he opened the lin and munched
owoy ot the food. Yoshida's mouth watered
os he watched the American open another
t in.
"Sorry I can't give you ony,'' Slade
~~ :~~~nghi~nfi~~:e!~~~ ~~~h;,=n t;::
rations for Americans ·ro eat, not lousy
slinkin' Jops." He chuckled to himself ond
went on munching, the saliva dripping on his
d irty chin.
Yoshida turned ond looked up at the
coconuts hanging in the shade of the palm
tufts. He climbed the tree quickly, pulling
~~ff i~~s~ft0:~~rg_:it~r~h~ ~=t~-kn~!
and poured the sweet, cold milk. down his
perched throot. The liquid was pure and
Yoshida felt refreshed.
Slade come over to the Joponese and
took the coconut from his hands. He lifted
~s 'ft h:~ndo!,~ oh~~ :~~O:,~ites~~~:uS?~d~
spit the mijk on t he ground and threw t he
Iorge coconut ot Yosh ida.
os h:~~~~e~~uhela'::,~~~d r~:i!~t~J~~it~~~~
Jop, I ought to kill r,ou. Whot you doin',
t ryin' to pOison me. '
Yoshida shrank bock against the trunk
of the polm t ree as the American stored
o t him coldly, wildly. Slade turned then,
still spitting the white coconut milk on the
ground, and walked owoy .
Yoshida sow the American, Jock Slade,
again. Slade hod been living on the east
side of the island while Yoshida hod built o
hut out of bamboo, polm leave and tindolo
wood on the west side near the lagoon.
~:,sh!i~c~~e jk~~ cfu~~7~n~v;~:, fi~e ifitJ!:~~
Seat~d
f igure
J. L. Cutltr
of oboco, when Slade opprooched him from
behind. Upon seeing the grizzled American
in his dirty, torn, brown vniform, Yoshida
gathered up his fish and headed toward the
hut. Slade followed close behind.
Outside the hut, Yoshida built o small
fire ond began to fry the fish. Slade sot
.
down near the lire.
"My food is all gone, I om very hungry,"
Slade said rubbing his bandaged stomach.
Yoshida understood and gave the American some of his food along with a cup of
coconut milk.
Yoshida could see the signs of loneliness written all over t he American's visage
a s he spoke: " I hove to get out of here. I
. kove to get the hell out of here ond get
bock. to the States, to New York. City, to
the 'scrapers and the bars ond the broods
and my Chevrolet, and .. ." He paused
ond then blurted, " I can't stand this domn
God-forsoken place ony longer with its slimy
creep ing and crawling and flying things ond the soggy heat . . ."
His voice trolled off then a S the roin
began to fall slowly oo. the tkotched roof.
Both Yoshida ond Slade rolled over and fell
asleep in the beds of fresh polm leoves.
They awoke early the next morning, the
rain coming down harder. The rain was in
harmony with Slade's unhoppy c ircumstances
and the whole island was enveloped by o
somber groynes.s. The t iny hut was lost In
t he gray clouds, the coconut palms were
~~o~~d r~~f!u;,~~!si~~:~~t~~s ~:J;~Ywl:~e
the downpour mingled with the salty mist.
The ICilden clouds showered the isla nd in o
flood of worm unhappy tears. Grey smoke
rose from the lagoon all about them.
Yoshida could heor the great seo pound-
~",~/~:~: t~~te~a?:e h!f~~~~~~ S~O:: ~:~~
Slade was more depresse'd than ever os he
looked out ot the rain pouring down on the
hut. Suddenly he jumped to his feet ono
exclaimed, " I hear o loud noise, o whistle.
I know It - it's o whistle! It's o whistle on •
o shlp. By God, they're coming to gei us
from this damn roin·500k.ed hell. I know it,
God I know it!"
Slade leaped through the doorway .onto
t he ground and ron pell-mell towards the
reef. Yoshida was su rprsied ot the American's actions, for he hod heard no nOise
but the surf pounding owcry ot the ree f in
~~~~dye~~~~~ J;;!~~~~d~~~~fo 1~o!~h
h1m before he got to the treacherous reef.
The gray rain wos still coming down hard
ond Yoshida could only see several feet in
front of him.
Slade raced across the wet send into
the greyish-silver sol! W,!Jter, shouling, " Here
;:U·dr~o,!:;~el k~e!r~~id~·~l!i ~
=
you bunch of . "
He tripped thi~:n ond fell heoclfirst onto
the jogged cora l, tearing his flesh open on
. his arms and legs. The blood gushed from
the open wounds as the salt water licked up
the blood... He didn' t 'seem to feel the pain
as he quickly got up out of the water ond
ron even foster t hon before. •
Yoshida ron into · the water and tried
to follow one of the ckonnels. He lost h is
bolonce several fimes on the slippery bottom
os the rain beat down on his face. He could
not see Slade now; he could not hear him
either. The booming of the wild waves
ogoinst t he reef seemed to drown out every
other sound.
·
·
The American kept struggling to reach
the edge of the reef. He was bleeding profusely on the orms, legs and his face. He
was nearly out of breath when he TCilched
the edge of the reef, his luf'I9S exploding.
" Damn you!" he shouted angrily,
"Damn you anyhow. Can't you hear me?
:!;~ .don't .,You come ond get me? Why
Just then o huge wove reached up onto
the reef and pulled the angry Jock Slade
into its churning, foomy water. Yoshida
reached the edge only to see the American
being smashed into the reef ond pulled' urtder
to his death. The Joponese stood there with
his heed bowed. ·The rain stopped. Slowly
~~~- gr!}tero~~nc~o0~! ~~Pf:a%e~i~;: ~~d
its golden rays mode the glossy surface of
the quiet sea sparkle. There was peace ond
calm.
reef ~o~~;~o·~e e.~~ t~~~d J~~ sJ:e c~~~
American, pulled to his death. The' stars
shone brightly on t he lagoon os Yash!do
looked down at it from the catwalk around
his small hut. He turned and walked slowly
throiJgh the doorway and went to sleep on
o bed ·of fresh green polm leaves. The wind
was quiet now, and the sco wos calm.
Yoshida slept peocefully.