The Alley

Zori had no idea what she was getting herself into when she stole an extra roll at dinner:

Futurism

A Hound in the Walls

There is No Escape

Simpatico

Ceramic mug steaming

Warm, cinnamon-spiced.

Percussive pattering

On window-panes.

Wet leaves dancing,

Hyper-green against

Rolling grey.

Book in hand, cat in lap,

Pajama-clad and robe-wrapped;

These are my loves.

Project: Akimoto

I was hoping to have this be a new print to sell at AZCAF last week…but then I had to go and catch COVID.

Anyway, enjoy the latest designs for Archanger, Jillian Akimoto and her alter-ego, Cutie Mask!

Sappho as Muse in Nazi Germany

Did you write for Sellie Engler?

Did you whisper in her ear,

Did you speak to Lotte Hahm

Things she would maybe need to hear?

.

Did you strike fear in the Stasi,

Of woman loving woman, 

An offence to the Nazis

They'd try to silence one by one.

.

Did you visit Violetta,

Dance with ladies in Berlin,

Were you there when love was shattered

Like the glass they trampled in.

.

Are you here with us this day

As all the terrors rise again,

Will you be there as we’re taken,

Give us strength to rise within.

Things Hidden

The road

Was all we could see

For a few feet, only

As we passed through Enchantment,

And only our imaginations

Could dream 

What was hidden in

That Fog;

Were there eyes

Watching us pass?

Were there secrets

We were never meant to know?

On we traveled

And the haze parted

We made it home...

Though maybe 

Just barely?

Blue-Grey

I am Blue-Grey

Cool on the outside, yet

Stormy on the inside,

It's hard to see, at sea

What lies beneath, but

There is something always churning,

Yearning for more

Than what's on the shore;

What's in store

For the future

No one can tell,

Well,

I, for one,

Am no longer satisfied

With the status-quo

I'm using my

Gift of Time

To find

Something more.

What Happened Inside the Room (continuation of "From Across the Room" and "From Inside the Room")

Her face swung to the door as she heard multiple locks click from the outside. The man from the cafe entered the room, smiling his icy smile.

“Well, hello! You’re finally awake.” He said.

“What is this? What’s going on?” She said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.

“I’ve been watching you,” he said, stepping closer to her, “You have no friends, no family, no lovers. No one to miss you if you disappeared.”

“I have friends,” she said, faintly.

“None that I saw. Are all of your friends online?”

She looked away, embarrassed.

“How sad. Don’t worry,” he took one last long step towards her, bridging the short distance between them, “I’ll be your friend. You don’t have to go back to that tiny, lonely apartment of yours. You can live here, with me! You can even have your own room all the way down here in the basement.”

“Why are you doing this?” She said as tears filled her eyes.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he said, feigned pity in his voice, “Because I can.”

Her heart rate increased as he climbed over her supine body. She waited until his position was just right. She jerked her leg, ripping the ropes from the bed, and slammed her knee directly into his crotch. With a guttural moan, he curled into a ball, helpless. She freed her other leg and both arms with a series of quick, decisive twists, then rolled both herself and the man over and off the bed. She had reversed their positions in a matter of seconds. She smiled as she pinned him to the floor. Her teeth glittered in the dim light.

“Too bad you weren’t paying very good attention while you were stalking me,” she purred. She relished the confusion in his eyes, “You didn’t choose me, sweetheart. I chose you. I know what you’ve been doing down here, and you’re never going to do it to another person.” Her teeth grew long and sharp as he watched in terror, and she plunged them into his neck. She guzzled the hot liquid that gushed from his veins. He thrashed against her inhumanly-strong grip, but his struggles became more and more weak as she drained him. Just before he became unconscious, she lifted her head and looked at him. Her dagger-like teeth dripped crimson.

“You know, I really should keep you alive for a while--torture you the way you tortured them,” she sneared at him, “But I’m not a monster.” Her scarlet lips returned to his throat. His body gave one final twitch, then lay motionless.

Make a Wish

I grip at your base,

Twist and pull

Displace

Your happy yellow blooms,

Beloved of bees.

I rip out your roots,

Stuff you into a bag.

Beneficial, nutritional, medicinal,

Hated by humans

Because you can't be

Marked, marketed, bought or sold;

You are a Survivor.

You thrive despite

Constant disruption.

You'll still be there,

Poking through the cracks

Your head turning fluffy white

To alight on the passing wind

Or the breath of a child

Who hasn't learned your sin.