I never felt so much
Since I have felt at all
The tingling smell and touch
Of dogrose and sweet briar,
Nettles against the wall,
All sours and sweets that grow
Together or apart
In hedge or marsh or ditch…
On the second day
The radios failed; we turned the knobs; no answer.
On the third day a warship passed us, heading north,
Dead bodies piled on the deck…
“Edwin Muir (1887–1959) is a mysteriously neglected, gorgeous, and emotionally penetrating poet. Of all the many pieces of writing spurred by the Cold War and the threat of nuclear apocalypse, and of the other kinds of 20th century apocalyptic writing, his poem ‘The Horses’ may be the most effective, perhaps because it is the most calm and gentle.”
—Robert Pinsky
Want some #verisimilitude for your post-apocalyptic story? Four years after the pandemic started, 7 out of 7 examined #battery-powered candles had burst batteries. 3 out of 7 had destroyed circuitry and were irreparable. I restored four of the candles to working order with a lot of cleaning and scrubbing, but of course they required fresh #batteries.
Takeaway: Nothing battery-powered left for four years will work when found. Much of it will be destroyed.
Bonus: Gasoline has a shelf life and may be useless in 6-12 months. Sorry, no verisimilitude in Mad Max.
Last night I watched The Day, a movie I had no idea I even had on my Plex machine. I think I got it as an offhand recommendation/mention on a reddit r/Horror thread. Anyway, damn! It's almost black and white, post apocalyptic, contextually super sparse and a hell of a ride. If you like your horror bleak you'll enjoy this one. It looks like it's available on Prime as well.
Aujourd'hui sur Blog à part – « Le Premier jour de paix », d’Elisa Beiram
L’humanité n’est pas flambarde en cette fin de XXIe siècle. Pourtant, Le Premier jour de paix d’Elisa Beiram, apporte un espoir qui manque souvent en SF.
Malcolm Craig, of "Cold City" and "Hot War" fame, is looking for gamers who played post-apocalyptic RPGs during the cold war, i.e. the 1970s and 1980s, to help with his current academic research. Further details at this RPG Pub thread:
Somerville Station is on the west side of the city and thanks to the protection offered by the Blackwater cordon, it is able to offer a relatively peaceful life. The same cannot be said for the subway tunnels themselves - they are only rarely travelled and often fall prey to mutant ambushes, cave-ins and flooding. #gzdoom#retrpfps#postapocalypse#BringAFlashlight