Eight: refutation (poetry series)

Posted by ractrose on 31 Mar 2021 in Art, Poems

      refutation   because every vice wears thin, vice and fame every fame makes damned the what she eats and what she wears and what’s she doing? Standing there at the window looking She looks at men who stare because we treasure leavings leave treasures fast maturing up next, another failure-fetish-failure in vicarity […]

Marjorie Bowen: The Sword Decides! (part sixteen)

Posted by ractrose on 30 Mar 2021 in Fiction, Novels

Marjorie Bowen The Sword Decides! (part sixteen)                   The dwarf nodded. “Silvestro, the King’s page, told me that the other day, when the Queen revoked his order to free a Hungarian prisoner, and shut the council doors in his face, he sobbed in his room. Cried and […]

My Blog Week: March 21 to March 27

Posted by ractrose on 28 Mar 2021 in The Latest

All the Latest from Torsade!                             A Word on the Week   The Shallow Season           We are approaching the first of April, which where I live is forecast to be a weirdly cold day. Maybe nature’s just […]

The Loath of Oilty (poem)

Posted by ractrose on 27 Mar 2021 in Art, Poems

      The Loath of Oilty   You, the undersigned Sacrifice your present ha ppiness for future winnings The future is the be st place for be ach combings and the shaking out I saw the shine Of a crushing double blood Macchiato lime twist with a cinnamon stick Moonbeam Bearing heavy on the […]

Hammersmith: Carey Explains Himself (chapter ten)

Posted by ractrose on 26 Mar 2021 in Fiction, Novels

Hammersmith Chapter Ten Carey Explains Himself             Less sticky about being accommodating than she’d feared, Hogben did her the favor of saying, “I might head down with Shaw, when he goes after that salve, and see about a room at Derfinger’s.” Of course, by that, she had probably lost him. […]

Mathilde Alanic: Shine! (part thirty-six)

Mathilde Alanic Shine! (part thirty-six)                         A young man approached, elegant in rich and sober garments well-fitted, the vest cut square over the dazzling shirt, to doff a silver-buckled hat to the Le Goël family. They all stopped to exchange a few courtesies. The […]

Marjorie Bowen: The Sword Decides! (part fifteen)

Posted by ractrose on 24 Mar 2021 in Fiction, Novels

Marjorie Bowen The Sword Decides! (part fifteen)                   “How odd!” Giovanna laughed. “I do think you love her.” He gave her no pleasant glance. “Love her? She has Alba and Giordano.” “But you made this bargain with me before the King’s will was known. And always the […]

Resolved (poem)

Posted by ractrose on 23 Mar 2021 in Art, Poems

      Resolved   How to have human conversation. Begin with a medium of exchange. When we last spoke on the phone; when I received your email. Introduce a subject of exchange. You had mentioned a plan to. You had been having difficulty with. You had informed me that. B, the one inquired of, […]

The Totem-Maker: Lore and Lessons (part four)

Posted by ractrose on 22 Mar 2021 in Fiction, Novels

The Totem-Maker Chapter Nine Lore and Lessons (part four)           Go! Finish! This does not concern you. The headman ordered the halfwit so, but it needed another, armed with a whip, to force him to the task. He held the pretty stone at arm’s length, averted his gaze, and waded into […]

My Blog Week: March 14 to March 20

Posted by ractrose on 21 Mar 2021 in The Latest

All the Latest from Torsade!                             A Word on the Week   With a Capital T             If you’re familiar with The Music Man, you understand something about our current dilemma. In this story, a swindler arrives […]