Maybe Stop Telling This Man What He Wants
"Man wants but little here below Nor wants that little long." How often hath that platitude Been strangled into song? By men who do not want, but have Their little and their more. In rhymes perforce, in meter bad, They serve it to the poor. ...
Afterword by Ted V.
Some say it was all folklore, of the sort civilizations Will sprout like fungus from the leaking seams as they grow senile. That those who live like wolves among the ruins may find comfort In tales that make the wolves out in the wastelands to seem...
The Holy Mountain of Vengeance
In the land of seven rivers, where the gates of death are builded, Stands a mountain (I can see it on the days when clouds are lifted) That is sacred to Odurum of the everlasting anger, (Who sets the forest blazing with his everlasting anger,) They...
I Do Not Fear A Season Without Hope
I do not fear a season without hope: Catastrophe upon catastrophe, When love is every day a little bit Made more a crime. When cruelty becomes The only virtue men know how to praise. When all but easy speeches are forbid To comfort cruel men. I...
I Won't Fear The Sunlight
The waves upon the silken sands Are softer than his breath Where he lies safe below the palms In sleep as deep as death. Soon I will rise from here, and go Down to the opal shore. And I won't fear the sunlight Anymore. I know the taste...
Ragnarok - III
"These ruins have been empty for too long. They ring no more with scarlet laughing flags. They echo not the peal of sparring arms, Nor cries of joyful brotherhood of war. They were not always silent. Once they shone Undusty, undecrepit,...
Ballade of Major Depressive Disorder
My generation does not hope, So many of our elders say. It deepens, like littoral slope, Enfeebles like a caustic spray. So much encouragement do they Declaim into cacophony: How we our future selves betray. ...
Scattered Thundershowers This Afternoon
The forecast didn't call for principalities and powers. In toppling heaps of alabaster balanced overhead They hung, silently swelling, for apprehensive hours, Filled full with holy water and rejuvenating dread. Somebody called down judgment on...
Ragnarok - II
The sun was gone. The only light that shone Was a reflection off the fading sky, Yet faded not the gold out of the roof, For, at the touch of darkness, fireflies, Lit crisp like Christmas candles, Appeared and turned the leaves to paper...
Shen's Song
If I had wings like Noah's dove I'd fly up the river to the one I love. I'd fly up the river. Wouldn't stay around Where I got troubles to hold me down. I'd say farewell, all my troubles, Fare thee well. I got no money for to buy my meal. Oh my...
I Think About Revenge Most Every Day
I think about revenge most every day. I pray for it, to it. I draw its eye. I hive its hissing hornets in my heart. I wear its mask and mantle. People say They do not understand how you can live Like that. No more do I! Yet nonetheless I must...
Blank Verse Essay on the Haunting of America
If you tell stories long enough my friend, I think, if you are honest, you must own That stories told here, told about here, try To turn into ghost stories. Only by Supreme and rigid force of will can you Tell any story in this land of ours And...