Sell-through

Sell-through (Almas) 10/6

As a child I played with a little boy who was covered in hair. We would meet behind the shed in the woods and run until the light dimmed in the sky. His whole family lived in the caves near the big valley that ran deep in the woods. He could run faster then I could. And he never wore clothes.

My parents say he doesn’t exist. The old man down the street says he does.

That he had a friend when he was little.

Who lived near the valley.

Who ran faster.

From Wired comes the story of a radio transmitter that sends out a mysterious series of beeps and other random noise. They are pretty sure that it is a Russian military signal. And that makes sense.

I like the idea of a radio tower sending out a secret message that is widely disseminated over the internet for anyone to hear. That is both secret and well known.

There is another world where I have a radio tower sending out my inner thoughts in a series of blips and clicks. Only I can decipher it. But everyone can hear.

Misdeem

Misdeem (Hoopsnake) 10/5

A field a desert plane

A cycle of fire and then of ice

Small green snakes

bend at the head and feet

bite their tails

They roll off into the rocks

to hide to sleep to cool themselves

Then up behind you

to sink poison teeth

They are the beginning and the end

they are the day and night

Spouse

Spouse (Simurgh) 10/4

At the lakeside

I touch my finger to my finger reflected

The ripples send out waves across the water

and break the clouds of afternoon

I was looking for the secret to living

I traveled far and crossed many perils

There is nothing under this heaven

but the rock and air and water

Only a reflection of everything

and I notice the quiet of this place

The calm of myself in this place

I inhale deeply and feel my lungs expand

The lake was meant to house a secret

all that is here is my face and everything else

I leave the lakeside

my finger singing with the chill of the waters 

Varicose

Varicose (The Grinning Man) 10/3

Always alone

and then this

tall man this

unreasonably

tall man in a

metallic green

jumpsuit

always on the

other side of

a fence or the

road or outside

a window at

night

He’s grinning

like a nightmare

big and toothy

and like it’s

painted on

and there’s no

nose or ears

and possibly

no hair

Then he’s gone

and it’s still

night or you’re

alone and there

is a space where

this man was

staring back at

you like a hole

being burned

in paper

Slow and steady

you never sleep

without thinking

your eyes

will open

he will be 

above you

Heptathalon

Heptathalon (Spring-Helled Jack) 10/2

In October

a girl – Mary Stevens

worked in Lavender Hill

On her way through Clapham Common

a dark man – possibly a man

held her arms tightly – began

to kiss her face – rip her clothes

She said with claws

she screamed – he

leapt into darkness

The next day – near Mary Stevens' home

a dark man – probably a man

jumped in the way of a carriage

and escaped by jumping a nine foot wall

They said – bell-like laughter

Jane Alsop – months later

February – answers the door

on vomiting blue flame

She said his eyes were balls of red fire

wrapped in a dark cloak – a helmet

and white oilskin

He held her arms tightly – began

to kiss her face – rip her dress

his claws were metallic – cold

He caught her on the steps

tore her neck with his claws

She said her sister saved her

Eight days later – Lucy Scales

returning home from Limehouse

with her sister

Along Green Dragon Alley

dark man – maybe a man

standing at a angle

She said – a quantity of blue flame

fits for hours

She said – tall thin gentlemanly

carrying a police lamp

In August – years later

in Aldershot's barracks

a sentry – in darkness

A figure advances from the gloom

He said – stop or I will shoot

The figure is quick and upon him

slapping him – one – two – three

He is shooting at the dark man

most likely not a man

then the figure is gone

with astonishing bounds

Kalamata

October is two things:

1. Awesome; and

2. A month of repeats :(

I'm in New Mexico working on a novel and cannot  write poems and novels at the same time. My brain just doesn't work that way. Sorry. So you get a repeat of last years Cryptozoological extravaganza!

Enjoy.

Kalamata (Scylla) 10/1

You are a beautiful woman

Tall with as many earthly talents as one may have

And you stand here

Your waist ringing with the heads of wild dogs

The tail of a vile sea creature

Flicks about your ankles and wraps around rocks

What have you done to deserve this

How did one so young and precious anger the gods

To become this hideous wraith

Reaching out to any sailor and breaking every ship

Was it the love of Glaucus

Whom you turned down whom you ran from

There is a dark tale hidden in your breast

One of women running from love they cannot bear