Apparitor

Happy Halloween everyone!


Apparitor (Pope Lick Monster) 10/31

Right-hand man of the devil
evil goat demon thing with
slick-backed hair and hooves

Jump from high on the trellis
as the train comes and you
can leap through the window

Into another universe into
a space between heaven and
hell and maybe that’s the point

Maybe he is taking souls
is stealing people from Kentucky
for some evil purpose

Or maybe it’s all made up
a myth written down on paper
and in the minds of man

Ghoulish

Ghoulish (Jersey Devil) 10/30

She is pushing and she is moaning and she is in pain and it is her 13th child and she is swearing to the heavens and to hell and the baby’s head is bald and red and shaped like a horse with two deep black soulless eyes and then a neck and arms and it has hooves and wings and is covered in wiry black hair

It makes a sound like nails on metal on chalkboards wet shoes on linoleum and grabs its mother by the leg and bites into her ankles and suckles blood like milk and the doctors are speechless and the mother is screaming and the universe tilts out the wrong way for a moment before it crashes through a window and into the sky

Parathyroid

Parathyroid (Con Rit) 10/29

And all things that fall fall into the gyre of river beneath the Tower Bridge and spin for eternity plus your age when you first felt sea salt in your hair

The great lymphatic system of the continent stucks itself at the Thames Barrier and newspapers collect until they are putty against the metallic sails

Up and down go the footsteps and the small waves of high and low tide reek with gray a dog plays in the lines between water and sand

Another is a head only in surf and it rises and falls becomes a thing unlike dog is serpent is giant and menacing will come up to London and eat

Regurgitate

Regurgitate (Dover Demon) 10/28

where
            am
                        I

I            was walking

and then
            here

with these fleshy            men
walking
                        pouring
light from
                        wheeled
machines
            what is
                        that
noise
                        who
            am
I
if I am not
            where I was
where I            know

Backlist

Backlist (Chickcharney) 10/27

& on the rocky path I will meet you furry-legged and nodding

& if I treat you well I will be blessed with good tidings and fortune

& if I mis-treat you a fog will lower on my life and my eyes will fade

like lights along the east river at daybreak

like rusting wires on the tracks in Altoona

I will melt into history and never be thought about

Consume

Consume (Kongamato) 10/26

The universe is a broth
spilling from the open beaks of giant storks

We are but bits of meat
floating in the periphery of such beasts

Remember when you were a child
and you wished you could live with dinosaurs?

Here is a target painted on your chest
and a rope to hang yourself with

Loop it over the pick of the bird’s beak
and knot it under your apple

What flavor is the universe?
mostly dark and reeking of the Cretaceous

The scent of asphalt bubbling
and the call of seagulls off the coasts of Africa

Duplicate

Duplicate (Flying Rod) 10/25

And in the sky the parachutes are falling
like seed pods in September

Across the clouds a blurring line of light
a plane and a flock of birds

It is a dragon a fish of the air

It is the drama of things you don’t understand

Dole

Dole (Kala Bandar) 10/24

Little buttons on its chest with glowing eyes
a helmet made of silver and sharp claws

The monkey man comes from the sky
and attacks anyone alone in the dark

It is sadness and its black fur shines with tears
it is Hanuman it is deliverance

Collide

Collide (Owlman) 10/23

It’s behind you

The pricks on your neck
are up and tingling

What if you turn
and are faced with
glowing red eyes

With stretched out wings
with hovering above
rooftops and falling
feathered claw hands

It is behind you

Tall and burning
and then it will be gone

So what does it mean
this floating ghost of
bird and man

Who does it protect
and who does it destroy
the feathers of your neck
will fall will needle

Botch

Botch (Fairy) 10/22

Imagine we are in a garden
that our hair is gently folding
in a breeze we cannot feel

And that the sun is autumn rich
orange and everything glows
amber lamps in a dark library

We stay here until a chill
rises from the leaf-covered earth
and the sky is burnt purple

This is why I whisper
in your ear and around you at night
while you are sleeping in our bed

Because us holding hands is like this garden
and it is silly and trite to say so

Review

Review (Peluda la Velue) 10/21

One tortoise foot into the river and the banks will swell the pricks will stand and aim into the heart of the nearest maiden
Let us count the evils:
                        withering crops
                        shooting quills
                        flood steps
                        invincible
                        flame breath
                        strike of death
                        acidic vomit

And everyone will fall like dominos until one can reach the tail and slice through the thickness of it and the demon will die

Postilion

Postilion (Black Shuck) 10/20

The angels in the rafters are hiding their eyes behind wings
they cover themselves in worry of igniting royal flames

Lightening will strike and destroy the spires and the devil
will leave his fingerprints on the northernmost door

He is a dog with burning coals for eyes and a flaming tongue
and all who see into them will die within the year

Everything is a herald of something else
it is not a line it is an algorithm a continuous looping sigil

Flatness

Flatness (Flatwoods Monster) 10/19

Spade-faced glowing-eyed cloak-man

Your head is an air shovel and you came here in a glowing orb of red

Claw fingers you are a barn owl in a man suit

Bringing rain of illness

Bringing the doubt of emptiness in the universe

Upraise

Upraise (Bloop) 10/18

Calm glass surface rippling like water
then bubbling then boiling
the bubbles pop and sine waves pulse
across the expanse

It is making blood into sound
and sound into air

Malombo

Malombo (Grootslang) 10/17

in the
                            blood

a virus of the land

                            pushing
from here to the sea

this cave
fills with diamonds

hardened
                            tusk

a nightmare

in elephant
                            and sepent

Whorl

Whorl (Kraken) 10/16

The world is a sewing machine
spun with crimson tentacles
and ships running through sea

Stitching space between sun and center
between this continent and the next
the clouds swirl faster

One cold hand on the rocks
threading the beaches with purple
highlighting every gold ray

Non-Voting

Non-Voting (Bigfoot) 10/15

It’s going to be November
and you live in those places
where politics are hot

Where are your door to doors
your promises of military service

Where are your inalienable rights

When you go to the polls
and cast your vote the ballots
aren’t even in your language

Will you stomp the ground til it breaks

Leave your size 18s in concrete

Tell me what sort of campaign promise
a Bigfoot desires from a candidate

More schools healthcare

Barbers

Probationer

Probationer (Nāga) 10/14

You must wait – until the full moon rises – until the fire begins

When the sky is dark – and the river spits pearls of flame

Then –

Privy Seal

Privy Seal (Kelpie) 10/13

In the field
a black horse
with 9 children
on its back

The tight skin shines in the sun
like seals basking on rocks

Its eye is the size of the moon
and the universe reflects in it

You touch its nose
your finger sticks
and it begins to gallop
towards water

In your pocket is the penknife
it will only take a minute to be free

The Kelpie is screaming in the shallows
and the blood in the water and the blood –

Hide

Hide (Beast of Bladenboro) 10/12

1700 people

1 cat monster cougar blood sucker

In the bushes
leaving behind a trail
of dead dogs
goats and cattle

This is some Mexican shit right here
coming up North Carolina way

1700

People – 1700 and 1

Home Invader

Home Invader (Mongolian Death Worm) 10/11

Sleeping in and then the storm starts

Hail and wind like tornadoes

It is the coming of death with its electric stare that kills from twenty feet
it’s corrosive and yellowing mucus

The streets fill with water and it looks like winter

And all three red feet of evil are staring at me

Are preparing my end

Skatathon

Skatathon (Yeti) 10/10

…and your knees will give out before the day is done
you will be skating and it will be cold and everything
will be white save that tall man by the rocks watching
you and crouching and pulling at the small plants that
grow in these altitudes

…and by skating you know we aren’t being literal
because you’re waist deep in snow and wrapped in
all these layers of fog and fur and wool and that man’s
eyes are coal black and silent and the wind is the sound
of blankets in the dryer or the telephone at 3am

…he is wearing a long coat is going to whip it open
will be naked and exposing to the elements and you
are just going to stare until you turn red embarrassed
and fall over yourself to run the other direction as
quickly as you can in all this mountain

…and your knees will give out before you could even
start to climb the Andes before you will make it half
way between base and sky and this yeti will still be
standing there at the rock maybe he is a rock maybe
he will be eating shrubs and waiting

Potwalloper

Potwalloper (Sea Monk after Guillaume du Bartas) 10/9

The water is parting

And the bald head is rising up

The seas have – as well as skies – Sun Moon and Stars


Not enough for the mytred Bishop

He comes ashore

Water spread like a book – peeling open for him

He spreads his cloak and the Milky Way falls to the sand

Spills like a jellyfish

Shapes itself into a sand dollar – spins gently

Cadge

Cadge (Kaijin) 10/8

Out of the sea
knotting sea weed in your hair
across the rocks

Fishman
with webbed fingers and thick
eyebrows

You sit at the bar
order a scotch on the rocks
and eat peanuts

This is my 800th post.

I'm sure I am meant to do something spectacular.

Instead I will ask that you check out the store and get yourself a copy of one of my books. There are ebook options available for those of you who hate real things.

I also have a Tumblr and follow @wilsonmj

Thanks.

Epoché

Epoché (Loch Ness Monster) 10/7

Saint Columba is walking in Scotland

And there ahead – a funeral by the river

      How did this youth die?

      He was swimming the river – the beast
      came up and chased him down – dragged
      him under

      Was there nothing you could do?

      We chased after in a boat and threw a line
      he came up in two pieces – bloodied
      a foot fell off in the boat

      I will see for myself

Saint Columba sent Luigne into the water

And there – the beast rose up and chased him

From the shore – Cloumba signed the cross

      Go no further – do not touch the man – go back at once

And as if hooked – tied to the water

The beast sank below – vanished – and was quiet

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