Brutalism

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I.

Two little pigs went to market. The better-looking one got slaughtered, the less desirable one went home. Ironic, of course, but brutal.

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II.

A child fell into a pond while the grown-ups drank martinis. Brutal scene minutes later.

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III.

The hysterectomy went badly and what the doctor said—well, it is unrepeatable. It was brutal.

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IV.

All the living rooms have been painted gray. They are seen as beautiful; nobody suspects brutalism at work.

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V.

At graduation, a son told his father that he had no plans. Of all the moments in their father-son relationship, this took the cake, brutalitywise. He seemed to want to cry, the father, I mean really weep.

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VI.

When the girl said, "Just whistle," and she didn't appear when he whistled, or when he whistled again, or in the middle of the third whistle, we couldn't help but think it a brutal way to end the film.

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VII.

Nothing is more brutal than an opera save a hunting party at night looking for you.

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VIII.

A lost score is brutal. The hidden will is brutal. Things that were never delivered or delivered without warning are, historically, brutal things.

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IX.

Snow is brutal in parking lots and in airports and in other lonely places where the snow falls.

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X.

Hard to silence it, hard to supervise it—siren, fisher cat, a crowd yelling—, the brutal thought that comes in.

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