Thank you, Black Hare Press!

 Thank you, Black Hare Press for publishing my drabble poem "A Ship Called Shame" on your Patreon page.

 

 

 

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A Ship Called Shame 

 Creak, Creak,
Slosh, Slosh
The Sacrifice drifted off the coast.
A hospital ship full of bones.
Whips cracked and chains dragged,
with groans of slaves from long ago.
The ship formerly called Mammon remembered.
Men hauled from below, cast overboard in chains, by Captain’s orders.
Howls of fear pleading in ancient tongue collided with splashes.
But another voice rose.
A curse, from the witch doctor before being tossed.
Curses stained the ship, through years, owners and names.
The military hospital ship struck with plague that slew all aboard.
The last man died, seeing demons clinging to the mast, howling shame.

Photo by pexels/ Serinus

Thank You, Stygian Lepus!

 Thank You, Stygian Lepus for publishing my two horror poems "On Donevan's Hill" and "Shadow Life"

 

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Thank you, Wingless Dreamer Books!

 Thank you, Wingless Dreamer Books for publishing my poem "Catamaran" in your anthology "Dreamscapes and Daydreams"

 

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Catamaran

 

They control me, hold me and crush me.
Escape! Gotta go find a new land.
Warm sun, watching me flee on the sea,
in a beat up catamaran.

Sea breeze pushes me along,
to a place I do not know.
A dolphin leaps, sleek and strong,
living free, to just be and grow.

The sunny day shifts into night.
Deep darkness, oh pain of heart!
Why did I flee? Why do we fight?
Morning rays, a peaceful new start.

It’s ahead! Green dot in sparkling blue.
I land, laying in the sand for days
alone, only God to answer to.
Not a sound but the crashing waves.

I look and see the lush palm trees,
with birds flying, singing so free,
among dark shadows hiding mysteries,
the Spirit calls me to come and see.

---

 

Thank you, White Cat Publishing!

 Thank you White Cat Publishing for publishing my Flash Fiction western story "Stranger In The Camp"

 

After the Civil War, Jesse James and others turned to crime. The Pinkerton Detective Agency were often hired to hunt them down, and behaved as badly as the criminals they hunted. That is the setting for Stranger in the Camp.  

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Thank you, Roanoke Review!

 I want to thank the Roanoke Review for publishing my short story "The Mysterious Menagerie"

 

The story is about an old time traveling medicine and freak show, where magick is real.

Check it out. 

photo by pexels/Nici Gottstein

Thank you, Centralit

 

 

I want to thank Centralit in Centralia, Illinois for publishing my poem "Those Mines".

The Poem speaks of how the coal mines impacted my life and the life of Southern Illinois.

 Check it out

 

Those Mines 

 

 Those mines ruled my world—
the coal mines of Southern Illinois.
My family came from
the Tennessee mountains
to dig in those mines.
They fought the Civil war and died.
They farmed and mined.
They sang, fought and prayed.
Working men breathing that dust, 
killing themselves every day,
and drinking it away at night.
Union men from Lewis day,
beating scabs to death.
Living in coal mine camps,
those little towns today.
Every morning, down the hole,
every evening drink some more.
The barbecues and parades,
the strikes and bar fights.
Threats on the phone, 
“We’ll kill your wife,”
Now, there’s a gun by the bed.
Every business bowed to coal,
every man worked it somehow
‘til the day coal died,
and those mines closed down—
Spelling the death of the little town,
and the life they knew.