My Thoughts and Other Spirits
by
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For an entire month, the weather graced the people of this countryside area with the glistening white that characterized the holiday season. The path from town, which led to the rural area outside, was laden with snow and beyond the roadway banks, the woods reflected the bark-brown and pristine white in a deafening silence.
Old George, the tinker who had counted his shreds of currency and impounded a few coins from the residents of this area, rode that familiar path, as he had every year for the last fifteen years, calling on those who had normally bought from him. This day, his wares were the reminder of what time of year it was. His wagon was laden with holiday wreaths, mistletoe, framework for gingerbread houses, canvas dolls, wooden rifles, and Christmas tree ornaments. Something about the sky, the snowfall, the jingle on his wagon, and the cold, crisp air in his nose and reddened face placed a sense of joy in his heart. The treasures in his very own wagon helped him feel like Father Christmas himself.
Within the solemnity of white, Old George spied the pathway that led to the Dodd residence. Old Mr. and Mrs. Dodd would, of course, need decorations, and perhaps a brand-new roasting pan. Year after year, the elder Dodds had received their children and grandchildren into the very abode which nurtured the Christmas spirit all through the younger Dodds’ childhood.
“Don’t forget your gingerbread house frames, Mrs. Dodd,” called out George.
“Oh, the children would be so upset if I didn’t make a gingerbread house!” exclaimed Mrs. Dodd.
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About the Book
“My Thoughts and Other Spirits” is a compilation of short stories, poetry and song lyrics.
The short stories are about various subjects. There are several spooky stories such as ‘The Old Haunt’, about a man who purchases a haunted house and falls in love with the attractive female ghost who haunts the place. ‘The Screeching Laugh’ in which the main character is devoured by a monster who is lurking for years in the woods behind his house.
Aside from scary stories, there are tragic stories such as ‘The Long Sleep’ in which a man is injured after a fall from a horse and spends nearly thirty years as a vegetable, then suddenly wakes after the clot in his brain dissolves.
Another tragedy is ‘Katie’. It is about a good Catholic girl who falls in love with a Protestant man. After the man propose marriage, the father of the future bride insists there will be no marriage. The father breaks the marriage up.
A couple of years later the father insists Katie marry a Catholic man who works with him. The marriage ends in a bad case of domestic violence.
The poetry is mostly free verse. There are, however, some rhyming poems. Some of the poems deal with love. There are poems of the love of life. Some deal with the relationship with the spiritual world. My poetry has been called Christian Existentialism, as well as metaphysical. You can choose for yourself what it is.
My real intent, which will especially realize with my song lyrics, is to entertain people.
About the Author
Steven O’Casey was born the youngest of four children. From kindergarten to eighth grade he attended
At St. Ignatius, O’Casey fell in love with the theatre. He played roles such as Alfred in ‘My Three Angels’ and Sky Masterson in ‘Guys and Dolls’. He won a Silver Medal in a one-act play festival for playing the supporting role of Silva in ‘The Long Goodbye’.
He continued acting in college playing the roles Harry Hegen in Sean O’Casey’s ‘The Silver Tassle’ and Laertes in ‘Hamlet’. He also played the coach in ‘That Championship Season’.
After taking some writing courses he began writing play adaptations and poetry. He was permitted by the head of the English department to take writing tutorials, one for writing poetry, and two tutorials for playwriting.
After leaving college he continued acting for a while. This included a summer with the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival the same year that Tom Hanks got his start in acting with the same group.
After leaving the Shakespeare Festival, O’Casey did a sound adaptation for radio. It was his own production of ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens. He personally played nine roles, including Scrooge, Bob Cratchit and Marley’s Ghost. The adaptation got radio play on WCLV in
After ‘A Christmas Carol’, O’Casey abstained from doing any artistic endeavors until he began writing poetry seriously again in 1989. A few years later he became serious writing novels and short stories.