June-August 2018

The three by 3 posting of March-May 2018 announced the acceptance for publication of “Wolfish,” “What’s in the Attic” and “Re-Possessed.” in the summer issue of Horror-Zine. A subsequent editorial decision replaced “Wolfish” with “A Widow’s Diary,” originally posted in three by 3, March-May 2015.

Both “Watch Closely, Listen Carefully,” and “A Showdown at Seaside” were begun in January 2018. The former was finished in April, the latter in June.

     A Widow’s Diary

Web…web…what did I expect
         from a spider stuck
                  for months in a closet?
She’s accomplished a lot—
         strung hers’ up and down,
                 netted one…two…shelves.

Spring’s arrived. I’ve brought a taste
         from my garden, seasonably
                  sweetened by nectar.
Won’t the spider be pleased?
          She’ll have a butterfly
                  for company, bluer
                          than the sky outside.

Watch Closely, Listen Carefully

The sounds an owl mouths
            while stalking earmark
                       whether –he’s on a limb
                                    holding tight, or airborne,
                                                above the trees, biding time
                                                            for a swoop…

Ground shadows—mice and the like—
after a field day tracking down seeds,
appear in a hurry to hole up,
ahead of what stirs at dusk…

Blink by blink an owl awakes.
Night finds him wide eyed—
on high alert, aiming
to catch sight of stragglers.

Sly minded, he mulls them
            over—who, who, who?—
                        before making a choice.
                                     Those within close range
                                                    can hear him coming,
                                                                  hoot upon hoot.

A Showdown at Seaside

Around noon on the last leg
of my combing along the beach,
I spotted a bottle, more than likely
landed by high tide…

Standing in the sand, it pointed
at the sun—glittered non-stop
until my shadow showed up…
but what I found was skinned
with moss, nothing inside
beside shells and seaweed.

Our encounter ended soon after…
the bottle cast back, caught
by an outbound current;
my heading home the way
I came, with no due regrets.