Author
And a Merry Christmas to you too!
Santa never had it this good!
And then came AI-inspired “Teddy Boy” Al Bundy!
A cozy little gem to bring you back down home for the holidays for good!
Don’t spend it all in one place!
The true meaning of Christmas is here!
From the recently opened vaults of Hiraeth.
Beach blanket bingo.
I thought I knew you.
I was wrong.
There is always a first time.
Blank piece of paper.
They know you know I know.
Don’t even try.
Know how?
There’s not much time.
Try not to be so.
A tribute to the king of American litterateurs. My second poem to appear in Illumen, the speculative poetry outlet of Hireath Publishing of ill fame and most fabulous fortune.
My name sadly did not make the cover. I am thinking of changing it to “And Many More,” like the song.
The poem that inspired my more modest effort was the very last thing the immortal beloved Edgar Allan Poe published before he was allegedly murdered by a person or persons unknown. The original was about greed, California gold fever, and the first recorded appearance of zombies on the world stage. Enjoin!
Eldorado
Gaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.
But he grew old—
This knight so bold—
And o’er his heart a shadow—
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.
And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow—
‘Shadow,’ said he,
‘Where can it be—
This land of Eldorado?’
‘Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,’
The shade replied,—
‘If you seek for Eldorado!’
Get a move on. Time is wasting. There are transsexual transvestites in Transylvania yet to conquer. Muhaha!
My modest little appreciation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman and her neglected poetic masterpiece, Queer People.
Not coincidentally, this is also my first poem accepted for publication in the flagship magazine of the prestigious Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA).
Click here to buy the farm, and everything in it:
Buy now, regret it later…
QUEER PEOPLE
The people people work with best
Are often very queer,
The people people own by birth
Quite shock your first idea;
The people people choose for friends
Your common sense appall,
But the people people marry
Are the queerest folk of all.
Charlotte (Anna) Perkins Gilman
We were the lucky ones.
Most did not survive.
Third Annual Poe It Like Poe Contest.
Honorable Mention
Next year, Gidget!
Dracula meets Rappaccini’s Daughter.
Vampires on Earth and from Outer Space.
Plus an article related to the persistent popularity of Dark Shadows. Read with all the lights on and the windows closed.
Stories
Something Else Came Through by Gary Davis
Identity by Duncan Shepard
The Wishing Star by Jason Lairamore
The Man in the Brown Coat by Peter Glazebrook
Last Supper by Keech Ballard
The Thieves of Joy by Bill Sinyard
Article
Dark Shadows: The Soap Opera, the Horror Show by Denise Noe
Poetry
Days and Nights in Providence by Sandy DeLuca
Three Vampaiku by Debby Feo
Cover art: Blood Fall by Brian Quinn
Read’em and weep!
A twisted little tale filled with loops and swirls.
Welcome to my world.
Keech Ballard 