"I Hope You Hate It"
by Willam Bolyard
We chase artificial highs, To replace sentimental love. Warm embrace is words on a screen, Of virtual drugs. No real connection. All by products of our adolescent. Top five changed on the day, of friends that changed on words we said. So we keep up the tradition, with followers and subscriptions. Only now we ignore the words from families. Replaced with the affection of strangers. Who would complain? Who would cry? "not I" said the lonely man. "not me" said the empty misery. So we dive deeper, seeking a meager cause. All because we have already lost.
William Bolyard spent over 10 years as a US Army infantryman. He is the author of Sober Man’s Thoughts. You can follow him on IG here. Listen to our Savage Wonder podcast episode with him here.
This week on the Savage Wonder podcast…
Katie Grugin is a Knoxville, TN native who served five years as a Field Artillery Officer and fell into art after injury. She is a pen and ink artist and has illustrated two books of poetry on family and grief. Katie is currently a graduate student in a Master of Science of Social Work program at the University of Tennessee. She has worked with victims of Intimate Partner Violence and is currently working with homeless veterans and men in recovery from substance use disorders. These experiences gave her perspective on the lasting effects of trauma and specific issues that come with experiencing PTSD. Katie is passionate about the way that art can fill up empty spaces in life for veterans and positively impact mental health.
Follow Katie here.
Most non-profits - especially non-profits in the arts - have a sugar daddy.
And we’re open to offers.
But there is something egalitarian about this organization. We want a diverse and robust ecosystem of support - from veterans to artists, from veterans supporters to art-lovers. We don’t want to exist because one person or one company thinks we should exist. We want to exist because all of you believe we should exist.
While we absolutely appreciate Substack paid subscriptions and/or acts of great one-time generosity, we’d like to offer the best way to support us. Be one of our monthly donors. Yes, we are busy. We work seven days a week to build a platform for veterans in the arts. That means:
— our Parlor on Quaker Avenue which provides low-to-no cost tickets and professional comedic theater each Saturday night
— our Savage Wonder Festival of Veterans in the Arts (year 2 to be announced in the somewhat near future!)
— Our ongoing free content like our podcast and this literary blog.
— And I’m not even getting into our impending full play productions or some very exciting micro-festivals we’re planning (I’m not being coy, trust me. We’ll talk about them a lot when everything is locked in!)
For the cost of one Dunkin Donuts cold brew each month, you can show us your support. I mean, you can show your support to the tune of one Buick each month and we won’t complain - but just buying us a cup of coffee each month - or half your Netflix subscription, if you prefer - shows us that you value the content being developed by veterans in the arts. So what do you say? Are we worth $5/month to you? $10? $20?
If we are, thank you. And if we haven’t earned that value for you yet, thank you for giving us the chance to prove it to you.
We build the VetRep platform with you in mind. It’s been a privilege. And we’re only getting started…