Field Recordings

Op Ed. Ramble. Steve Bannon is often described as a Neo-Nazi, or just a Nazi. He really isn’t. That’s way too simple.  He knows his Nazi imagery and iconography, evident from the “America First” inauguration speech, the lingo of the campaign, plus the regime’s early policy. Bannon claims to be a Nationalist, one with an originalist view of the Constitution, much like Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s pick for SCOTUS.  So what do you get when you thread a Fascism fetish, Old-School Constitutional thinking, and capitalism?   American feudalism. A loose federal government, controlled by a strong military, the oligarchy ruling class lording over the spoils of the states which would possibly be recombined, even, into loose nations, pooling resources, and trade leverage. Dystopia schmopia.  And how would that even happen?   We’ll have to go through Russia to get there. If you’re just catching onto Steve Bannon, and Stephen Miller for that matter, two power...

Back in the northern colony they had begun to preparing everyone for starvation. For death. And now were there any left? The Dun-in-man man lived. The Dun-in-man could stumble upon her. She almost wished he would. Two against a pack meant blood, flesh, skin, and bones to nurse for the winter. Would he take her too? She did not know. The colony; the constable swinging his weight around the gated property to keep everyone on their toes. As food supplies grew short so does patience. Paranoia begins. She is the first to leave. "The colony,” she whispered. She placed the pot on the stove, pulling her blankets close. Fever sweat rolled off her forehead. "I, Tiresias," featured in Common Oddities Speculative Fiction Sideshow  , was composed during the period  where I researched the prophet Tiresias, and explored his and her transformations. The story began as a what if scenario: what if one of the last people on the planet were a FTM character? How would she be treated?  Wo...

"End of the World and a Cup of Coffee" and "Chase" are included in Pea River's Fall Issue, Worksongs for the Apocalypse . Thanks so much Pea River! from "End of the World..." Everyone loves a fresh start; which is why apocalypse looks so inviting. Something better than buying and spending, and being so angry all the time. Tidelawn, salt grey pines, roads disappearing under all that water. That too, a kind of spending. Can the Dutch save us? I have doubts. from "Chase" Shotgun pellets rattle oak, thin thunder aches beyond the miles.     Storms smells ripen. Two of us turn left, the other three have cracked the bamboo, but they will leave trails, a wide broken swath, and blood cut from sawgrass growing between.     What did you say? Before the strike broke over the sky? Safe is the country that outlaws make?

Part two of my serial, "How the Dun-in Man Got His Name" is available in Helios Quarterly. The Dun-in Man is a mute outlay scout in a future where global warming has flooded the East Coast. The country has reorganized to the middle, leaving the coasts, and flooded cities to pirates, marshpunks, and outlaws. Several Dun-in Man stories have been published, telling stories from different stages of his life.

The third of the stream world stories hit interweb stores this week. Marley, the young forensic doctor, from "Marley and the Dead" sends her staff to research Trashman's tech in "Kit in the City. Marley and the Bosses." Yeah, I know. A dull title to say the least. I feel like I can divide my work in half--by great titles and functional titles. Digressing... Stream world takes place in megacities of the future. There is no privacy per se. One's cyber life is an open book if you choose to look. There is a low grade kind of telepathy among the educated, because your vitals are broadcast, as well as your email, and your social contacts, and your viewing habits. Citizens with medical backgrounds can read more than just your kinky browsing history. The first of the stream stories to be published was: " The Play is the Thing "  A love story, and an homage to Shakespeare. Followed by " Marley & the Dead"   A moody character driven...

Helios Quarterly is serializing my marshpunk action-Mad-Max-with-boats-eco-disaster-dystopian fiction "How the Dun-in Man Got His Name," I've written about this character before in Don't Open Till Doomsday .  And in Toxic Tourism , my self published ebook from Amazon. This tale is straight-up pulp. All action and world building! For fans of westerns, gun-slinging, chase stories, and shark attacks.

This poem is special for a number of reasons. I wrote it in response to a colleague's death, and though  it is about her, it is also about her sons, and the nervous anxious state of the small rural town the summer she passed. Last summer the tension was high, partly due to her death's impact on the community, as well as several other high profile scandals which threatened to tear the town apart.  In many ways, the  forest did feel like it burned down. I drew upon on some syllabic magic from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as shortened linguistic syllabic expletives (for lack of a better word) to create a prayer-like elegiac tone. You can read it here.