Matthew Theisen

The Supreme Witness Matthew Theisen

Daniel Tines has become convinced he is the incarnation of the Hindu god, Shiva, lord of fertility and destruction. However, if such awareness is real, it brings him little comfort. Caught between trying to enlighten the scenery and characters around him or detaching into narcissism and watching events unfold without compassion, Daniel struggles with the innate insanity of concurring creation and death. If there are no causes left to fight for, he foresees no sense in committing himself to the continual bombardment of his senses and mind by external stimuli seeking to control him. Disengaged and commitment-phobic, he searches for goddesses to mate with, yet believes he is not intended to breed, for part of his duty as Shiva is to end the cycle of the deus ex machina. Doubting whether he dances the cosmic gavotte or simply away from problems, he half-heartedly pursues education, careers, and life in the military. The Supreme Witness is told in four narrative forms and spans the years between 1980?1990.