Friday, August 14, 2015

Like Ghosts in the Clutches of Dawn

I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.
~Ray Bradbury


I'm on vacation today, but I wanted to drop in. I like a bunch of different kinds of poetry, including science fiction poetry. Here's the first part of "Imperfect Storm" by Robert Borski:

Imperfect Storm
by Robert Borski

Though the thunder is deep enough
to rattle the stones of the castle

and the sky is whited out
for nearly minutes at a time,

none of the storm’s bolder strokes
ever seem to find the copper finials

set atop the parapets designed to conduct
the voltage down to the laboratory

below. As a result, the cold, stitched-
together dead thing lying on the slab

never receives the animating spark
it needs to kickstart its black heart.


read the rest here.



Lightning by David

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One more from sfpoetry.com. No offense to politicians, but this little haiku is worth a visit.

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My Juicy Little Universe has the Poetry Friday round-up.

11 comments:

Tara said...

Wow.. tumescently dark! This poem ventured off in a most unexpected way. Enjoy your holiday, Tabatha!

Donna Smith said...

Well, "tumescently dark"...what an interesting phrase to describe rain-swollen clouds. Very unusual poem with its two tones.

Heidi Mordhorst said...

I adore both of these. The first one is sort of a poem of Imaginary Places or alternate universes, don't you think? And the second one reminds me of Jon Stewart's sign-off bullsh*t rant (the only one of his I have ever watched in 16 years, Daisy's entire lifetime of being too tired to stay up past 10). The only difference is the direction of the flow: smelly excrement or bloody in-crement!

Never a dull moment with Tabatha...

(The verification tool is asking me to click all the images of STEAK.)

Diane Mayr said...

Both of them made me laugh! Maybe I need to read more SF poetry--I sure can use the laughs!

I can never ever think of Frankenstein without thinking of one of my top ten favorite movies--Young Frankenstein. It's probably the number one movie for quotable lines, followed closely by Princess Bride. Lucky me, I'm getting to attend a showing of Princess Bride in a movie theater. I'm sure it'll be an audience of 95% women, all of whom can recite the dialog by heart. I can't wait!

Sally Murphy said...

Love both of these, though I'm not sure the second one is science fiction, lol. Seems eerily accurate.

Mary Lee said...

"I like a bunch of different kinds of poetry" -- great example of hyperbole!! :-)

Like Sally, I'm not sure the second is science fiction!

Carol said...

I love the Ray Bradbury quote at the top. I'm a little embarrassed to admit, especially after this, that I really don't much like science fiction or fantasy and have to make myself read it, so I have titles to share with kids!

Carol Varsalona said...

Tabatha, what an interesting combination of poems that have a dark side to them. I love the line "like ghosts in the clutches of dawn." This is a good one to ponder for author's purpose when ending with a line line like that. The latter poem is oh so funny.

Tabatha said...

Mary Lee, you made me wonder what the opposite of hyperbole is, and I still don't know. Probably "understatement" is my favorite option, but I think there are other (more specific) terms.

Carol, feel free not to like anything you want! One person's favorite is another person's drudgery. That's just the way it is :-)

Bridget Magee said...

Gorman's poem hits the mark! I veered into the political last week, too. Enjoy your vacation! =)

Michelle Heidenrich Barnes said...

Love the haiku. Quite the brilliant little summation.