The Calendar The sun coughed, scattered itself for a split second into myriad droplets – so divided, poured itself into the central chasm, flattening it to glory, clinching the final resilience of the chasm’s rocks – that reject sediment, so newly refined. Its roughage thickened the barriers against itself. In the beginning of time was its end, finally clinched to […]
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Ritual Roots Trains: Stringing, ringing, lifting, Breathing meringues, with pores distended at the termini Contraction is needed for piercing of bars And holing of tickets. The breaking of one deadlock only Institutes another, more firm, In the hand and in the basket. More futile by far than any old bird’s weak flight Through a Church, a hall […]
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Pearlman is a mythological fantasy and time travel themed story by David Russell. You can read the story within the embedded PDF viewer, or you can download the PDF to your device for offline reading. You can also print it via the printer button at the top of the viewer. Excerpt: The blow struck; a quota of people saw […]
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Clouds In chroniclers’ minds Past wars all went full circle Making great urban filth destroy itself So that the finest flowers and shrubs Could sprout at random. And birds, in exultation Or happy in their ignorance Made rills of melody Now man had passed them by. But now, with ice and poison For one full year enthralled, embalmed. […]
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Electro-Magnetic Love She said – you are my current, my three-pointed plug Yet I am the wound flex; the wiring behind the walls is mine – When I say ‘Halt!’ go no further; the wiring is dislocated from you The very suggestion of a movement of current, a sense of desirability Is itself physical. You place shields […]
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Scorpion I touched a scorpion; it struck. It was my fault; I had been warned – But for one split second Its beauty-fascination wrenched me From reason’s ice. I don’t think anyone could find a scorpion ugly, They shine too. Writhing and smarting from the sting I lashed out, struck on something soft I could not see. […]
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Tangled Drawing the cross slices tramline nuggets, Sizing out torture’s cavity, Wrenching the hopeful – slashes, threads all. The anchor is split, tossed on a shroud, The elements burgeoning right. The chain is rusted, marking starfish, Shakes in a ticking melody. Calipers rented, mayhem dented, Cholesterol’s bulb fouls the maggots away; All pupae are gelled, numb triplets they […]
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Connections Sheen caps ground rails Soaking harsh sleepers To rattle mud-flounced trains. Drizzle dusts, Grinding against itself, Sparking the tracks’ sheen With casual exasperation; Blinding the gravel Kicking in panic Against the basalt of its being. The lifeline Brine polishes ground cliffs, Moss-padded in their cavities, The waves of muscle buffet, Abrade the penciled rocks, Cowl […]
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Fast Lane Let’s get in the fast lane – Rip off the doors and slice the breezes; Let’s get in the fast lane – Thread the highway through a needle. We can loop the date-line In a coral reef-knot; Turn our jet-lag inside out, Inverted, oblique, reversed. Let’s fly an exploding plane, Turn on our parachutes – Chrysanthemums […]
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As a new generation of writers confronts global warming, a new book genre has emerged: “climate fiction”, or “cli-fi”. Russell: “In my secret heart, I hope that all these books that are now talking about climate change will help to move public opinion.” That’s Canadian novelist Craig Russell. In his recent book, Fragment, a shockwave sends a massive Antarctic ice […]
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