Hey, gang! I had my reading of my poem “Roanoke Summer Midnight” included in a video by Peeking Cat Poetry Magazine a couple of weeks ago, after the piece was published in its 2017 anthology. If you happened to miss that, this is the individual recording that I sent to the publisher for the video’s creation. (I just uploaded it to Youtube.)
Happy Halloween once again! Below you’ll find my audio recording of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.”
I apologize that this and my other readings are a bit “breathy;” I doubt Poe envisioned an asthmatic narrator. It’s because I’m recording these poems on my cell phone, and I’ve got to stand very close to it to be heard. I believe I’ll be able to eliminate this problem when I get some better recording equipment.
Enjoy!
Happy Halloween! My miniature books arrived yesterday from Poems-for-All, and they look just great! Grendel Pumpkin and Ebullient Pumpkin are watching over a few copies right here.
With Orion’s sword, the Hunter arose
And swept the world with fury and grace.
In him I was born, in him I will die,
In him I will lose name, station and face.
Death over weakness
Death over despair
Death over personal gain.
Death over dishonor
Death over undeath
Death over fire with no flame.
All this I pledge thee
O Grendel, great Khan
To serve and protect
Over death’s endless tide,
With your word in my heart
Your eyes in my face
And your tooth in my hand
By my side.
— from Matt Wagner’s “Grendel”
I was looking around the web for a Halloween poem to record (it’s a bit tricky, as they have to be in the public domain), and I found this very short poem by John Keats. Its imagery makes it somewhat Halloweenish, I suppose. I hope that you enjoy it.
If you do like this one, then stop by tomorrow for my reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.”
I’m honored today to see the Poems-for-All project publish four of its signature “miniature books” featuring my work – two with my flash fiction and two with my poetry. Poems-for-All is a unique and truly inventive California-based publisher that produces these mini-books and then distributes them for free in variety of public places. That way, they’re “scattered like seeds” and can reach and surprise new readers – and maybe even create new lovers of poetry. (They’re even shared in Scotland at the St. Andrews International Poetry Festival.) All four of the mini-books containing my writing feature beautiful artwork by publisher Robert Hansen. (I just love the covers!)
The first flash fiction mini-book features my 100-word horror story, “There in the Bags” (just in time for Halloween). The second features my responses to the popular online Six-Word Sci-Fi Story Challenge.
The first mini-book containing my poetry contains the first stanza of my most popular poem, “Confession.” (It works well as a standalone short poem.) The second contains my recent poem, “Consciousness Haiku.”
I remain tremendously grateful to Mr. Hansen for selecting my work for this fun and innovative project, and for producing such terrific artwork to accompany my writing.
For more information on Poems-for-All, please see the project’s website here:
So this is the Day-of-the-Dead-style light-up skull that I bought at Tuesday Morning and then sent to a friend. I packed it with assiduous care, but of course it arrived broken anyway, because U.S. postal employees are a brutish, godless people who know no love nor any mercy.
Anyway, the people at Tuesday Morning in my friend’s town let her exchange it, no problem — even when it was abundantly clear that it wasn’t the company’s fault. And the salesperson was really nice about it.
And the skull itself is wicked-cool, isn’t it?
My enjoyment of “The Walking Dead” has waned sufficiently to make me wonder whether I should still call myself a fan of the show; it was sometime during Season 6 when I really began watching simply to see if it would get better. With that said, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy last night’s premiere of Season 8.
I’d rate it an 8 out of 10 for its creators’ wise reliance on fan service to salvage a weary narrative. They were successful enough to make me enjoy the episode, which was quite generous with action and special effects, including the show’s state-of-the-art zombie effects.
If you squint just a little, you can still see that “The Walking Dead” is worn at the seams. This just isn’t a program that does dialogue or character development very well. Dear God, am I sick of the saccharine pep talks among Maggie, Rick and Jesus. It’s like a bowlderized menage a trois scripted by Hallmark card writers, in which everyone is masturbating one another verbally and metaphorically instead of literally. (Strangely enough, though, the show does just fine scripting and characterizing its villains. Negan and his henchman — including the traitorous Eugene — all seem to have distinct voices, are interesting to watch, and are well portrayed by their actors.)
There were plotting and logistical problems too … it seems to me that our heroes had ample opportunity to finally shoot Negan (in a story conclusion that we should have seen ages ago), yet inexplicably chose to expend countless rounds at his building’s windows.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the episode, though. There was a lot of childish fun to be had with the explosions, armored vehicles, and grotesque zombies, not to mention the long overdue emotional payoff of watching Rick and company finally take the fight to Negan. If you used to love this show and want to love it again, the premiere will at least give you a little hope.
The ones that I received as a gift last week are a thousand times cooler.
And I still haven’t gotten around to creating or buying a proper glow-in-the-dark skull, as my efforts to craft one last year ended so roundly in disaster.
Still, the light-up plastic pumpkin is pretty neat. There was a little boy up in Northern Virginia who was utterly fascinated by it. I wanted so badly to give it to him, but of course you can’t give an electrical item to a young kid.
Speaking of pumpkins, you can see below that I did get a real one this year. What should I do with it? Draw a face? Carve it into a Jack-o’-lantern? I have zero artistic ability, so I’m only going to embarrass myself. If I do anything with it, I have my heart set on the mask design for Matt Wagner’s “Grendel” comic book villain. But I’m still open to suggestions, and I can always get another pumpkin.
Tonight’s agenda — speak exclusively in British slang; tell all the nobs to bugger off, and sort out all the bellends. Then meet up with a nice bird who isn’t a tart.
Nice one. Right, my British slang is proper, innit? Oh, you don’t think so? GET OUT OF IT, THEN.
Tally ho!
Sally forth!
And let slip the dogs of war! (Or something!)
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York!!
[Update: God damn it. I realized just now that Brendan Gleeson is IRISH.]
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 