Daniel Otto Jack PetersenTwo recent YouTube book reviewers encountered Lafferty for the first time and one of them kindly tagged and recommended my channel. It has been a pleasure to interact with new Lafferty readers among content creators. Be sure to check out their respective videos on Lafferty! Links below. #ralafferty #sciencefiction #genewolfe #booktube
Ep. 22: Responding to Literally Books & Liminal Spaces on reading Lafferty for the first timeDaniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-07-16 | Two recent YouTube book reviewers encountered Lafferty for the first time and one of them kindly tagged and recommended my channel. It has been a pleasure to interact with new Lafferty readers among content creators. Be sure to check out their respective videos on Lafferty! Links below. #ralafferty #sciencefiction #genewolfe #booktube
@LiminalSpaces03 review of five of Lafferty's short stories: youtu.be/sgAgmjXAvBQ?si=21MrBFKJ6Tvla9BzBookpilled reviews The Reefs of Earth! (& other Lafferty news)Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-10-20 | @Bookpilled LOVES this novel! I had to hop on and talk about his review. Matt says the writing is excellent and that Reefs of Earth does Gene Wolfe better than Gene Wolfe! What do you think? (He even says Reefs is a contender for his next Top 15!😮 Do you think it'll make it? I have my doubts, but it's mainly just cause I don't wanna be disappointed.😜)
#ralafferty #genewolfe #bookpilled #booktube #booktubecommunity #booktuber #booktubers #sciencefiction #sciencefictionfantasy #sciencefantasy #fantasyfiction #americanfiction #newwavesciencefiction #literature #writingEp 31: Cutie Bears & Space Ghosts on THIEVING BEAR PLANET! Panel 3 (of 3)Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-10-10 | Floating, giggling, tumbleweed-bears who are eating your thoughts? The spirit of space exploration turned into a life-sized fetish doll and ritually murdered for laughs? Conversations with the ghosts of astronauts made out of lightning? A meditation on technology as the best and worst thing about humanity? On the loss of intuition across time and space? Yep! It's all in there. Just another day on Thieving Bear Planet. How do you interpret the story's delightfully twisty, freaky narrative? Let us know in the comments!
Undending thanks once again to @vintagesf, @LiminalSpaces03 , and @literallybooks for joining me for this EPIC and delightful discussion.
#ralafferty #booktube #sciencefiction #aliens #weirdfiction #weirdplanet #planets #strangeplanet #horror #horrorfiction #cosmichorror #wonder #bodyhorror #philosophicalfiction #spiders #bear #spaceexploration #spaceghosts #ghosts #technology #jeffvandermeerEp 30: Panel 2b: Planets of Wonder, Horror, & Hilarity (Once On Aranea, World Abounding, Snuffles)Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-09-21 | Things are ramping up in weirdness and gross-out humour. (Content warning: animal harm.) Is this what Samuel Delany meant by saying Lafferty made black comedy go ultraviolet? (We also mention Scavengers Reign, Alice in Wonderland, the Book of Job, and more!)
Are you and your dog just an undeveloped Spider God who will take over the Earth?
Fancy visiting a planet where you can watch your children be born, grow to adulthood, and die a happy, fulfilled life all in a month or so?
How about a marvellous little world where a murderous monster demiurge is a mirror that reflects why we're funny and serious at the same time? (And can such a powerful entity be named SNUFFLES?!)
#ralafferty #booktube #sciencefiction #weirdfiction #weirdplanet #planets #strangeplanet #horror #horrorfiction #cosmichorror #wonder #bodyhorror #splatterpunk #philosophicalfiction #spiders #bear #spaceexplorationEp 29: Lafferty Panel 2a: Two Anti-colonialist Planetary Tales (900 Grandmothers & Ride A Tin Can)Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-09-18 | Had a truly insightful (and intermittently hilarious) discussion with @vintagesf, @LiminalSpaces03, and @literallybooks about one of Lafferty's most well known and best planetary tales, 'Nine Hundred Grandmothers', as well as the lesser known but equally important 'Ride A Tin Can'. What are your interpretations of these stories? Please comment! :)
Topics include: colonialism, capitalism, matriarchy, hypermasculinity, anthropology, folktales, indigenous peoples, ritual, aliens, golden age s.f., new wave s.f., and more!
#ralafferty #sciencefiction #colonialism #capitalism #patriarchy #matriarchy #indigenous #masculinity #anthropology #folktales #ritual #planetary #interplanetary #spaceexploration #goldenagesciencefiction #newwavesciencefiction #aliensRecent Reads ep. 3: The Drowned World by J. G. Ballard (Or: Inverted Crusoeism in the Anthropocene)Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-09-12 | This ended up being a sort of ad hoc pop-up lecture on ecocriticism and posthumanism. But worry not, it's still popular entertainment! And it's completely centred on this utterly fascinating novel. I try to start a few arguments too. (Caveat lector, all ye Thackerians.) Enjoy and comment! :)
patreon.com/DoctorRockterThe Hole On The Corner Ep. 28: Lafferty Panel - part 1 of 3 (Origin Stories)Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-09-06 | What a blast it was to chat with @vintagesf, @LiminalSpaces03, and @literallybooks about our formation as readers, in regard to science fiction and other genres as well as first encountering R. A. Lafferty. Warning: some viewers may find this video to contain excessive amounts of sci-fi nostalgia and lit-nerd bromance.🙃
#sciencefiction #ralafferty #booktube #booktubers #booktubecommunity #booktubesff #fantasy #readers #booksEp. 27: Past Master outline Ch. 6 - Sting in the Tail (Or: Eating the Devils Brains)Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-08-31 | Probably my favourite chapter in the novel. An Astrobean bestiary and under-odyssey (or oddicy). The killing of the Devil(fish) and eating of its brains. Singing skulls and flesh-eating ghosts. Need I say more?
#ralafferty #sciencefiction #sciencefantasy #monsters #swordandplanet #utopia #ecopsychology #monstertheory #wildplanet #pastmaster #astrobe #devil #devilfish #unconsciousmindAnnouncing guest YouTubers on The Hole On The Corner!Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-08-30 | I was recently joined by @LiminalSpaces03, @literallybooks and @vintagesf for an EPIC discussion of R. A. Lafferty and science fiction. It was a blast! It'll be three videos in total, coming out over the next week. The stories we discussed, in case you want to read ahead, were:
* Nine Hundred Grandmothers * Ride a Tin Can * Once On Aranea * World Abounding * Snuffles *Thieving Bear Planet
#ralafferty #sciencefiction #shortstories #weird #weirdfiction #planets #planets #planetscary #planetsoweird #horror #horrorstories #weirdscifi #weirdplanets #weirdplanet #newwavesciencefiction #southwesternfiction #southwesternstories #oklahomafiction #sciencefantasy #aliensShiny Beast of Thought ep. 1: Nick Cave lyrics part 1 - The Birthday Party (graphic content warning)Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-08-20 | A brief tour through the literary yet chaotic, violent (and well, misogynistic) early lyrics of Nick Cave. The lyrical landscape of a dark but humorous imagist, storyteller, lover, and spiritual seeker takes shape.
#nickcave #thebirthdayparty #nickcaveandthebadseeds #lyrics #musicdiscussion #darklyrics #punk #punkrock #postpunkEp. 26 Past Master outline Ch 5: The Shape of Things to ComeDaniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-08-18 | In this chapter we encounter (among other things) a coin-operated blaspheMass, Rimrock's myth of the evolution of the ansel species, and highlights on the strange and mutating characters in Thomas More's retinue. It's a good one!
#ralafferty #pastmaster #utopia #sciencefiction #evolution #myth #religion #catholicchurch #catholicism #theology #nihilism #nothing #aliens #aliencontact #mutation #socialengineering #philosophy #theone #monism #unconsciousmind #depthpsychologyThe Hole On The Corner Ep 25: Past Master outline, chapters 3 & 4Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-08-03 | In chapter 3, Thomas and Paul return to Earth to abruptly enter a brawl, reported in a sort of phenomenology of fighting, and Thomas gets a glimpse of the slum city Cathead and its grotesqueries. In chapter 4, Thomas converses with the higher ups of Astrobe, their theoretical discussions punctuated by strange dream imagery from More's passage through Hopp-Equation Space. What strikes you about these chapters? Let me know in the comments! #ralafferty #sciencefiction #utopia #dystopia #dreampunkForgotten Bookshelf ep. 1 - Lord DunsanyDaniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-07-27 | Ever wished there was a more atheistic/nihilistic version of the longing for Faerie? Dunsany might be your man. But readers of all stripes can feel the power of his opulent sense of wonder. An inspiration to Lovecraft, Lewis, and Tolkien, his darkly mythopoeic and sometimes downright quirky tales are as good as the hype.
patreon.com/DoctorRockterEp 24: The Ludic Mythos of Emerging Lafferty Readership (Response to Literally & Liminal pt 2)Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-07-27 | [Apologies for not using Cat Rambo's They/Them pronouns!🙈 🙈]
Weeelll, I may've gotten a *little* too 'Literary Critic'/'Teacher' in this one! Still, I think it's an important and interesting discussion and I'd love to know what folks think about my ad hoc hermeneutic speculations. (McCarthy is only briefly mentioned! But I couldn't resist this automated thumbnail.🙃) #ralafferty #sciencefiction #genewolfe #booktuber #readers
My academia page: https://glasgow.academia.edu/DanielOttoJackPetersen
My Lord Dunsany video: youtu.be/NklvdJR5RrM?si=fJMiAn82ZDGLz86ZEp. 23: Past Master outline, Chs. 1 & 2Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-07-17 | Ch. 1: The 'three big men' of Astrobe discuss the next world president while besieged by raging mechanical killers. Ch. 2: Paul the 'outlaw astronaut' heads out on a riproaring, psychedelic space adventure and back in time to retrieve Thomas More for said presidency. #ralafferty #sciencefiction #utopia #thomasmore #1968 #pastmaster
My Patreon: patreon.com/DoctorRockterStatic Age ep. 4: Indn TV! (Echo & Rez Dogs)Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-07-09 | Some of the best television going! (Even us White Steves think so.) And it's utterly indigenous! #reservationdogs #echo #nativeamerican #americanindian #television #marvelstudios #comedy #superhero
Check out this YouTube channel interacting with these shows from a Native American perspective: @nativemediatheory
See more of my Patreon videos at: patreon.com/DoctorRockterOn completing an essay on Lafferty (on Camels and Dromedaries, Clem, Splinters, and Cabrito)Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-06-01 | I've been waylaid by academic work. It's about Lafferty, though, so we might as well chat about it. The topic was doppelgängers and the environmental unconscious. (For a forthcoming collection from Palgrave called Doppelgänger Gothic.) I was also put freshly in awe of Lafferty's craftsmanship as a writer. Let me know your thoughts! :)
#RALafferty #academic #doppelganger #gothic #ecocriticism #monsters #monstertheory #doubles #unconscious #lacan #jung #psychoanalysis #ecologyRecent Reads ep. 2: UBIK!!Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-06-01 | I've finally become a Dick Head!! Had read a few of his novels before this, but now I'm in. Want to read many more Dicks. What a fun metaphysical mindbender, and surprisingly poignant regarding depression and poor mental health. #philipkdick #ubik #sciencefiction #sciencefictionnovel #depression #metaphysics #ontology #reality #pkd #religion #religiousexperience #god #theology
More videos at: patreon.com/DoctorRockterThe Hole On The Corner Ep. 20: Past Master (1968) - introduction part 2: three reviewsDaniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-03-16 | Discussing contemporary (60s/70s) reviews of Lafferty's debut novel from Judith Merril, Sheryl Smith, and Fred Chappell: some unbridled praise and some reservations; insights all around. (See the links mentioned below.) #RALafferty #utopia #sciencefiction #1960s #newwavesciencefiction #bookdiscussion #booktube #psychedelic #trippy #speculativefiction #dystopia #carljung #depthpsychology
Samuel Delany interview about utopia (& Past Master): https://www.depauw.edu/sfs/interviews/delany52interview.htm?fbclid=IwAR07SwmMDjg7Btj2lxkndW2Ffwed1Fpfs2Eaz8czUC7P4ldlfc3ucNw51U0
M Porcius Fiction Log's review of Past Master: mporcius.blogspot.com/2014/01/past-master-by-r-lafferty.htmlTHOTC Ep. 19: R. A. Laffertys Past Master (1968) - introduction part 1: three blurbsDaniel Otto Jack Petersen2024-03-09 | Unpacking the unanimous praise for Lafferty's debut novel from New Wave luminaries Samuel Delany, Roger Zelazny, and Harlan Ellison. #RALafferty #sciencefiction #1960s #psychedelic #trippy #1960s #catholic #booktube #bookdiscussionEp. 18 - Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit & Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction (2020)Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2023-07-23 | In which I try to start a little friendly fight between myself and @outlawbookselleroriginal. ;) Native American Studies is one of the key lenses through which I study Lafferty. It's fascinating to draw some parallels between this recent work of indigenous futurism and Lafferty's fiction. I suggest one of their commonalities is a resistance to the Western Enlightenment Rationalism Establishment. (The big WERE.) #twospirit #indigenous #lgbtq #indigiqueer #speculativefiction #postapocalypse #ralaffertyThe Hole on the Corner ep. 17 - R. A. Laffertys Snuffles part 3 (of 3), responding to Alzabo SoupDaniel Otto Jack Petersen2023-07-08 | Let's play Alzabo Soup/The Hole on the Corner bingo! This Gene Wolfe podcast provided a number of excellent discussion points on Lafferty's 1960 cosmic horror story. Get in on it! What do you think? Are moral actions significant in a universe that is either meaningless or meaningful to a magnitude that is beyond comprehension? Can we play along and laugh along to the Cosmic Joke that hasn't reached its punchline?The Hole On The Corner ep. 16 - R. A. Laffertys Snuffles, part 2 (of 3)Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2023-06-08 | Have you ever tripped balls while being hunted down by a giant alien bear who is speaking directly into your mind and telling you to acknowledge him as king of the world? If so, Brian and Georgina feel you. This episode we conclude our ramble through Lafferty's "Snuffles" (1960) and also try to say a few things about Laffertian cosmic horror vs. Lovecraftian cosmic horror. Let me know your thoughts! :)
#RALafferty #cosmichorror #sciencefiction #weirdfiction #newwavesciencefiction #bear #bearsThe Hole On The Corner ep. 15: R. A. Laffertys Snuffles part 1 (of 3)Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2023-06-06 | The trippy planet Bellota is a WEIRD place to do science. Especially when there's a friendly and frightening giant bear that's not really a bear. Meet Snuffles. He's the king and you better pay tribute.
[Apologies for the poor video quality - uploaded it at the wrong resolution.🤦🏻♂️]
Gonna start making some longer videos, going beat by beat through Lafferty's fiction. This little series on "Snuffles" (1960) is in response to Alzabo Soup's recent two-episode coverage of that story: alzabosoup.com/category-28
Talkin what it means to be Chestertonian (wonder + nightmare), a bit of Graham Harman on Lovecraft, bioregion among the stars, No Pat Teleology, and much more. Let's discuss! :)
#RALafferty #cosmichorror #sciencefiction #weirdfiction #newwavesciencefiction #bear #bearsThe Hole On The Corner ep14: Locating Lafferty in the Literary Landscape pt 4 - Lafferty & The WeirdDaniel Otto Jack Petersen2022-12-21 | Fourth and final in this lil series. Another relatively short one! (With lots of pics of the horror mags/anthologies Lafferty's stories were published in.)
Do you agree or disagree that Lafferty's work is "weird fiction adjacent"? Let me know!
#ralafferty #weirdfiction #weirdtales #horror #horrorfiction #horrorstories #horrorstory #bookdiscussion #literature #sciencefiction #1960s #1970sT.H.O.T. Corner ep 13: Locating Lafferty in the Literary Landscape pt 3 - Lafferty & World LitDaniel Otto Jack Petersen2022-12-15 | A relatively short one! :) Talkin African, Latin American, British, and other global authors. Does Lafferty fit among them? What do you think? Let me know! #ralafferty #worldliterature #bookdiscussion #literature #sciencefiction #magicrealism #magicalrealism #folklore #indigenous
@Bookpilled Past Master review: youtu.be/GFPbs301i2g?t=791T.H.O.T.Corner ep 12: Locating Lafferty in the Literary Landscape pt 2 - Tall Tales & US Western LitDaniel Otto Jack Petersen2022-12-13 | Talkin tall tales, kit foxes, mountain boomers, Twain, Faulkner, O'Connor, McCarthy, Momaday, Silko and more! (And yes, I meant to say PAUL Bunyan not JOHN Bunyan.🤦🏻♂️ Pilgrim’s Pioneer Progress?🤪) Last of the long ones for a bit. Next few will be short, I promise! :) (Introducing, my dog August. By bark only. :P ) #bookdiscussion #literature #sciencefiction #animals #talltales #americanindian #americanliterature #americanwest #oklahoma #southwest #greatplains #ecology #bioregion #settlers #ushistory #nativeamerican #frontier #cormacmccarthy #bloodmeridian #flanneryoconnor #marktwain #williamfaulkner #bobdylanT.H.O.T. Corner 11: Locating Lafferty in the Literary Landscape pt 1 - Native American storytellingDaniel Otto Jack Petersen2022-12-08 | Trying to say something intelligible about the influence of Native American storytelling and worldview on Lafferty’s fiction.☺️ Let me know what you think! Have you noticed this? Are you Native American yourself? We need your input!🙏🏻 #RALafferty #bookdiscussion #literature #nativeamerican #nativeamericanstories #oralstorytelling #animals #myths #legends #americanindian #settlers #colonization #ushistory #postcolonialism #postcolonial #choctaw #cherokee #turtleislandThe Hole on the Corner ep. 10 - ADDENDUM: “Puddle on the Floor” & “I Don’t Care Who Keeps the Cows”Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2022-11-22 | Mini-episode! Two more (excellent) uncollected short stories I completely forgot to include in the previous episode.🤪 Lemme know if you've read em!The Hole on the Corner ep. 9 - R. A. Lafferty’s uncollected fiction!Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2022-11-20 | Big thick episode on every Lafferty story just sitting out there in obscure out of print anthologies, mostly unknown and unloved - which is an absolute shame as these are some of his weirdest, wildest, and best. Enjoy! Please let me know if you’ve read any of these and what you think of them!🙂 #RALafferty #bookdiscussion #literature #sciencefiction #weirdtales #bookreview #1970s #1980s #anthologies #sciencefictionanthologies #fantasy #experimentalfiction #outofprint #weirdfiction #newwavesciencefiction #scifiThe Hole on the Corner 8- Lafferty’s story collections 4: Austro, Ringing Changes, Orbit, Iron TearsDaniel Otto Jack Petersen2022-11-15 | Finishing up the collected fiction at last!Some great stories and more fun artwork. Tell me your faves and fails from these collections!☺️
#RALafferty #sciencefiction #literature #bookdiscussion #weirdtales #bookreview #animals #experimentalwriting #shortstories #shortstorycollectionThe Hole on the Corner ep. 7 - Laffertys short story collections pt. 3: Golden Gate & Other StoriesDaniel Otto Jack Petersen2022-11-13 | Still movin slower through these than I mean to but the trade-off is more story by story coverage.😅 This has got some *good* ones! (And some great artwork too!) Let me know if you agree or disagree.🙂The Hole on the Corner ep. 6 - Lafferty’s short story collections pt. 2: Strange Doings & DAEHSFTADaniel Otto Jack Petersen2022-11-11 | The last two mainstream story collections this decade (1970s) before Lafferty’s work goes almost exclusively specialty press. Some incredible and not so incredible stuff. A smidge of space horror here, some LitFic there, poignant time travel, alien genocide, little fairy folk in Texas, weird climate change, giant needles through the Earth, every human sharing the same nightmare, Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) on an Oklahoma riverside, alien blob at a Florida reptile farm… you get the idea.The Hole on the Corner ep. 5 - Lafferty’s short story collections part 1: Nine Hundred Grandmothers!Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2022-11-08 | Dedicated a whole episode to this seminal collection, with suggestions for expanding it a little when it comes out in a Library of America or Penguin edition.😁 Enjoy and discuss. What are your fave stories? Disagree with my picks? Lemme know!The Hole on the Corner ep. 4 - concluding summary remarks on Lafferty’s novelistic careerDaniel Otto Jack Petersen2022-11-06 | You could maybe even start here as an overview of Lafferty’s novels. I try to suggest why his novels are just as good, and in some respects better, than his short stories. I also propose something like an architectonics to his overall novelistic career, from armageddons and apocalypses to post-apocalypses and new worlds. Enjoy and please discuss! 🙂The Hole on the Corner ep. 3: R. A. Lafferty’s 1980s novels!Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2022-11-05 | Finishing up our whirlwind tour through Lafferty’s novels - the extra experimental 80s! Alien teenage girls, pirate planets, historical fantasy, tall tale autobiography, baby animals making a psychic ocean in middle America, giants who write the world into existence, metafictional Arabian Nights - it’s a wild ride!😁 Enjoy and please discuss!
#RALafferty #1980s #bookdiscussion #literature #bookreview #sciencefiction #speculativefiction #weirdtales #talltales #fantasy #historicalfiction #ecology #philosophy #theology #theory #space #future #planets #animals #writingThe Hole on the Corner ep. 2: R. A. Lafferty’s 1970s novels!Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2022-11-02 | Oh dear lord, I hope you good folks can endure my manic chat and endless arm waving!🤦🏻♂️🤣🤣 (As well as me calling the character Hannali Innominee... Hannali Anomaly!🙈🙈🤣)
This episode we’re talkin Lafferty’s even stranger 70s output - some truly great works in there. Let me know what you think of the ones you’ve read!The Hole On the Corner episode 1! R. A. Lafferty’s 1960s novelsDaniel Otto Jack Petersen2022-11-01 | A little (unscripted) history on Lafferty’s start as a writer and then a whirlwind tour of his four debut novels. I try to categorise each one as either a romp or a rant!🤪 Please weigh in! What do you think of these novels? (Also please fact check me on any dates or other historical claims!)
I forgot to mention in the video that “The Hole on the Corner” is the name of a 1967 story by Lafferty, included in his seminal collection Nine Hundred Grandmothers (1970). It’s a multiverse story as only Lafferty could write it and aptly indicates the wildly varied adventures we’ll embark upon in this series. Enjoy and join in! #RALafferty #sciencefiction #literature #bookdiscussion #novels #1960s #weirdtales28 10 2022, Announcement: R. A. Lafferty content forthcoming!Daniel Otto Jack Petersen2022-10-28 | The world needs R. A. Lafferty online content!
Can Lafferty's published novels be divided into Romps and Rants? Let's see on the next video!
Did you know Lafferty has over a dozen unpublished novels? I'm going to discuss one called When All the World Was Young in the video after the next!Skeleton Makes GoodDaniel Otto Jack Petersen2010-12-19 | A tribute to the late Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart) on the day he died. Performed by Daniel Otto Jack Petersen. Filmed & Edited by Daniel Otto Jack Petersen II. (This one's funnier and geekier than 'Brickbats' but I'm ok with that!)
'Skeleton Makes Good' by Captain Beefheart From the album Ice Cream for Crow
There's so many things to feel and see while you're awake they're just out of reach out of grasp yeah out of reach and just as many; maybe more the minute that you sleep so I got to throw my preach skeleton breath scorpion blush I have a crush on your skeleton watch out unsuspecting stranger you'll fall off the log headfirst into dreams end up screaming this will comb the wolf and that will comb the fog what will peen the rain what will preen the hog oh you mean earth and hell over you and laugh at your tire tracks if you get up skeleton makes good.BrickbatsDaniel Otto Jack Petersen2010-12-19 | A tribute to the late Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart) on the day he died. Performed by Daniel Otto Jack Petersen. Filmed & Edited by Daniel Otto Jack Petersen II.
'Brickbats' by Captain Beefheart
From the album Doc At the Radar Station
Brickbats fly at my fireplace
Upside down I see them in the fire
They squeak and roast there
Wings leap across the floor
Fold up the wall shadows
The window curtain ghost
Throws my heart and dusts my throat
My mind caught by the corner
Gradually decides its safe
Becomes a bat itself
Flexes its little claws
[Tests] its leather wings
With loud, hollow pops
Around the room
Threatening to dash its brains
Somehow at the last minute
Retreats and becomes a natural glue
[That] holds fast and slow
[and] every other motion
Making the night more interesting
Becomes a cold, liquid breeze
That freezes and thaws
And pours the surroundings full
As no breath can be taken
It drowns and relieves
To see the black turn into yellow
And the yellow into black.
Brickbats
Brickbats
Brickbats
Brickbats