Throwback Thursday: Mr Brill's First Victim

She'd outspent all her friends on her new frock
And coat, and smart and flatt'ring new cloche hat,
But Miss Lucinda really sought to shock
More than to incite envy. She knew that
Some suffragettes had some odd stunt well-planned
For Easter Sunday, in the great parade,
But it took her some effort, and some bland,
Insipid ev'nings learning those they'd made.
In secret she stole Winky's half-smoked pack
To practice. On Good Friday, she did light
Her first, her only; blowing from out back
A cross breeze caught her flame, and soon her slight
And boyish frame and new duds were afire.
Her Torch of Freedom, no one would admire.

Throwback Thursday: November 9

She'd been so sure all day, it was a prank,
The kid who'd told her, how could he have known?
They'd been in school all day, fish in a tank,
Their campus closed, their motions watched (She'd grown
Annoyed at this, and many months were left
'Til graduation set her free). But Chris
Insisted that the Wall was falling, kept
On whispering so in hallways. Wouldn't this
Be something they'd be summoned for to see
On TV in the library? But Sue
Was thinking of her time zone. Germany
Was many hours ahead. She learned 'twas true
When Tom and Garrick said so. Chris, that sneak
Kept secret how he'd learned it for a week!

Throwback Thursday: A Secret Disclosed

In Salzburg one grave doesn't quite contain
The man it claims. Old Theophrastus, he
Whom we called Paracelcus, in the main
Cared nothing for our rules. He came to be
Immortal, and in just the way you think:
Through sublimation, transmutation, lead,
Through fire and smoke and water and a stink
That killed migrating wildfowl overhead.
Success was his, and so he had to fake
His sad demise. His name, too, was let die.
Restored to youth and vigor, he did make
Discoveries galore, but then this guy
Gave others credit. Now, though, he has fame
Again. Fox Mulder is his present name.