Aside from these new characters developing and getting set to act out this new drama, there is the fact that, much like the plot for The Ghost of Gabriel’s Horn, an epic poem will be woven within the narrative fabric of this new project. The themes of this new project and the fourth epic poem weren’t as obvious to me as the parallels between The Son Dial Tone and The Ghost of Gabriel’s Horn, but the similarities are there. The story for the fourth epic poem doesn’t serve as a past life for the characters that are a part of the main narrative. It’s a guide for them, a mirror. At times they can control the narrative of this story, and at other times it’s there to reflect who they are—for better or worse.
This time around, it’ll be a little easier putting the pieces together. Much of The Son Dial Tone was outlined before it was part of The Ghost of Gabriel’s Horn, as well as much of the verses having already been composed. I had to play around with the poem’s structure to fit what was there into The Ghost of Gabriel’s Horn’s narrative. A couple subplots were dropped. Some of the subplots didn’t fit, and some I didn’t have the time for. A lot of cynicism was cut. But much of that cynicism pops up in the fourth epic poem, and is more appropriate to its story. Fitting The Son Dial Tone’s story to The Ghost of Gabriel’s Horn helped me to focus the areas where The Son Dial Tone was becoming too big. I don’t believe the final product for The Son Dial Tone would be as long as 2 Enlighten the G.O.D.Z., but it would’ve been in the vicinity of The Ronin Poetz’s page count if it had been a standalone story, possibly more. On its own, The Son Dial Tone stands around 75 pages.
The fourth epic was etched out in the same brainstorm sessions that, after putting aside What the Ego Said and How the Id Replied, saw the better parts of 2 Enlighten the G.O.D.Z. and The Son Dial Tone put together. Ah! 1999 and the year 2000. Anyway…the fourth epic was only notes. Lines of ideas jotted down, one after the other, streams of thought. I had the armies of enemies, some points about the villains, and a few lines dedicated to the hero and the hero’s tasks.
So far, the three epic poems I’ve composed have had a set of lessons for their heroes to learn. Maa Kheru had the four lessons of the cup, the wand, the sword, and the word. Kham Noiz in 2 Enlighten the G.O.D.Z. has a lesson on seven ancient words of power. And Mojuba Kimoyo had the proper 26 keys of music. Our forth hero will definitely have some learning to do, but his main focus are a set of tasks that must be completed, like Hercules and his labors. There’s also a group of parents in each epic poem. There’s been Father Aquarius and Mother Pisces, Mother Harmony and Father Voice from The Ronin Poetz and The Son Dial Tone, respectively. The fourth epic poem is no different from the other three (2 Enlighten the G.O.D.Z.’s parents will be revealed soon enough). This is one of the areas where the fourth epic poem adopts the abandoned cynical tone and some plot points that were created for The Son Dial Tone.
Because the fourth epic poem only has notes and an outline, overlaying its story onto this new project will be easier, considering nothing has been set in stone for it. The first scene of the epic poem will make its debut in the book’s first act, as has been outlined. This scene has been written. The first scene for the fourth epic poem has been finished, with some fine tuning going on here and there. It’s intense. A disappointed ‘goddess’ or ‘queen’ resigns her ‘firstborn children’ to a terrible fate, written first in stone as a warning, and then within the cosmos as something to be fulfilled. Three armies, consisting of the goddess’ first born children, walking away from a war that is only on an uneasy pause, must face the verbal punishment of this goddess who is named ‘motherland.’ The scene was taken from a manuscript I’d written in the tenth grade, and rewritten in college. In its first form, written in high school, it was a clunky, awkward two pages. When I went to re-write it, it became this grand seven page battle between armies. But it was the beginning of the scene, as it was re-written, that made me go back and look at it. The marching armies are referred to as ‘the last of a failed generation’. The visuals of the marching armies, I liked that. I also liked that after this grand description of three armies, as great as they were, led by demi-gods, with frames extending tall to the sky, they were called ‘The Last of a Failed Generation’. It was like Yoda’s line from The Empire Strikes Back, “Wars don’t make one great” was made visual. As great as these armies were, in number and accomplishment, they were the result of failure. Politics in the world had gone terribly wrong.
I wanted to use this scene somewhere, since the manuscript would never be published, and I always look back at my unpublished works to steal from and sort of cheat my way through a project if I need a scene, character, or dialogue.
The main character to the poem is, for now, outlined to be introduced in the next part. Here, the poem will take on a very fairytale-like quality. As I outline this new project, I’m also looking for the right beats as to where the fourth epic poem comes in. This will be easier once I work out the details of the protagonist’s ability to ‘dive’ into this epic poem and see the story. Horatio had his horn, the musical notes, and his father’s compositions. The first scene, already composed, is given to this new protagonist. But I’m asking myself how does he continue it? I’m still ironing it all out, playing around with ideas. One thing that’s for certain is this time, the protagonist isn’t alone in composing.
The female protagonist plays a key role in the writing of this epic poem, and how it plays out. She too has a character composed within the fourth epic poem that reflects her. I like that. Horatio was alone in completing The Son Dial Tone. Delia waited for his cue to sing the compositions to life, or listen to the story’s music. She was far from playing second fiddle, especially when it comes to her role within their past lives, but I like how this new female protagonist gets in on the composition. It’s hinted that Virginia Tara-Peters helped her husband, Pete Peters, compose his parts of The Son Dial Tone, but we don’t ever get to see that. I like that we’ll witness the love between the male and female protagonist bloom with their equal share in composing this story.
b write black
