The Blue Bird (part one)

Short Stories The Blue Bird (part one)                             Something buzzed, up like wind can at times, when it slices between gutter and roof. The noise escalated, out of the hinterlands of notice, into skull-gripping alarm. A shock came, too loud to be […]

Marjorie Bowen: The Sword Decides! (part forty-five)

Marjorie Bowen The Sword Decides! (part forty-five)                   It was a Monday, a February Monday, the weather dry enough for the staging of Giovanna’s tournament. The crown’s revenues had for 1345 been poor. During the year of Andreas, his spending on revels had drained monies from the […]

My Blog Week: November 21 to November 27

Posted by ractrose on 29 Nov 2021 in The Latest

All the Latest from Torsade!                               A Word on the Week     The Sensitivity Trap (part one)             [Wash. DC] Evening Star, 11/11/1950, Ad for product Chore Girl [Kansas] Abilene Weekly Reflector, 12/13/1906, article on […]

Catastrophe (part three)

Jean Hess La Catastrophe de la Martinique Preface continued (part three)                 To report… Now, the fact, at Saint-Pierre, is that these inhabitants wanted to go. And if these seems to you too general, absolutely, take that portion of the inhabitants whose example had the chance of being […]

Hammersmith: Up in the Rafters (chapter thirty-four)

Posted by ractrose on 26 Nov 2021 in Fiction, Novels

Hammersmith Chapter Thirty-Four Up in the Rafters           A curious feature of Mossbunker’s factory (or, for all she knew, an ordinary feature of any factory), was this concealed catwalk below the skylights. Zetland’s team crouched here in darkness. Yet Aimee could picture the hands looking up to a dazzling white daylight, […]

The Culture continued (poem)

Posted by ractrose on 24 Nov 2021 in Art, Poems

      The Culture II   The Kreutz Sungrazer Should it return Centuries ahead   Trail its vapor of ammonia Methane Carbon The devil’s alloy Nickel-plated offerings   Commodify your tears Make your work efficient Import your tears in boxcars Be done with it A question harms you A word destroys you Step from […]

Please Help (conclusion)

Please Help (conclusion)

Short Stories Please Help (part three)             He went and had a look. He had to make some noise…grunting, drawing breath, clacking a little, with his pocket key ring banging the wall under the sill. “Hey ya,” Milton said, low as he could. A head came around the wall. “The […]

The Totem-Maker: The Citadel (part twelve)

Posted by ractrose on 22 Nov 2021 in Fiction, Novels

The Totem-Maker Chapter Ten The Citadel (part twelve)           The wood trim of the house, and the rail where our backs rested at the edge of a small cliff, were painted turquoise. A rug was brought, a carpet to stack atop the grass mat that always covered the pebbles by day, […]

My Blog Week: November 14 to November 20

Posted by ractrose on 21 Nov 2021 in The Latest

All the Latest from Torsade!                               A Word on the Week     The Kirkus Review         In retailing, there’s a basic equation to solve. The selling price of a product has to exceed the seller’s purchase cost, […]

Rapunzel (poem)

Posted by ractrose on 20 Nov 2021 in Art, Poems

      Rapunzel   Everyone, Rapunzel says Waylaying her latest swain Surprising at the tomb-still cottage gate his hesitant approach Has a milieu, I wanted mine To be more than that of witch’s hostage Bound in a tower room Do you want to know the truth? I winnowed seeds where the birds had crapped […]