Chum (poem)

Posted by ractrose on 30 Jun 2022 in Art, Poems

      Chum   Will you be my chum Sink with me under the bubbling swell Or take your hacksaw to the cable Release the weight of me That binds you Still We are side by side   Keep the pear tree, lose the partridge Keep the gold rings, sack the servants Forecast for […]

Miraculous (poem)

Posted by ractrose on 29 Jun 2022 in Art, Poems

      Miraculous   Tarzan is anxious In the bedroom, carpeting and air conditioning are dominant smells, the odor of adhesive and its cool tempering and the way the cigarette smoke of all her friends Blends into a suburban climb to the high and dry He was at his best, filled with animalistic impulse […]

The Resident (part seven)

      Chapter One Dark Paneling (continued)   Not, he’d been about to say, make them remember you for all the wrong reasons…irritated that Wissary could be irritated with him. But Teconieshe spoke. “The young couple were going to buy it, three hundred above the rent, later John said he could manage five…six thousand […]

My Blog Week: June 20 to June 26

Posted by ractrose on 27 Jun 2022 in The Latest

All the Latest from Torsade!                             On Monday, “The Tambinder Engine”, Deenie sharing a secret with her ministers. Tuesday, a poem reissue from Rattus, “The Mind’s Eye”, Thursday, Catastrophe, and first descriptions of the volcano’s destruction and the state of the dead. […]

The Mirrors (part seven)

Posted by ractrose on 26 Jun 2022 in Fiction, Novels

    The Mirrors (part seven)     She hoped Mr. Wright would happen by when she sat to lunch. Going through Esta’s trove with Carmine would not be helpful. At a bad time, it would tempt him away from his duties. Rothesay, it seemed to her, was the more at fault… Well, dismiss it. […]

Catastrophe (part twenty-six)

Jean Hess La Catastrophe de la Martinique (twenty-six)                             M. Clerc before the eruption and in the ruins     We return to the volcano. Here is how M. Clerc described to me the eruption of the 8th, which he witnessed from […]

The Mind’s Eye (poem)

Posted by ractrose on 22 Jun 2022 in Art, Poems

      The Mind’s Eye   Poured into America Through parting industrial fog of moist Over fen of broken fill still an alternative To the unwelcome choice For second rankers rags Clothe well enough and rainbows of all stripes Enchant condemn the love of color if you must Polluted strata layered between spheres Wash […]

The Tambinder Engine (part two)

      The Tambinder Engine  A McAlley Story (part two)     Leaving, she scanned hard the direction Matthew would have gone. Maybe I’ve seen a ghost. Maybe I’ve had a fit. The bad air… At her rear bumper, she laid her armload on the gravel. The white truck had water jugs in the […]

My Blog Week: June 12 to June 18

Posted by ractrose on 20 Jun 2022 in The Latest

All the Latest from Torsade!                                   A Word on the Week     Blight (part two)           Our society wants to manage mental health better, but we have a folkloric problem. We allow narratives into […]

Depression Glass (part four)

      Depression Glass (part four)     “Oh, that’s pretty. Is it, like, a fern?” “It’s a poisonous plant called hemlock.” “But, you mean, hemlock? How’s it growing here?” “You got me. I can look it up.” He patted his phone pocket. They were under hot sun, on weedy gravel, moving down from […]