Darker Than Black.

by Paul DeThroe

c2010

All Rights Reserved



My heart is darker than black

No more feeling it ain't coming back

Jaded? You wouldn't even know

Burnt to a crisp and put up for show


My soul is darker than black

Play life's cards that are always stacked

Jaded? You wouldn't even know

These open scars will never close


My mind is darker than black

Deep inside I'm sharpening the ax

Jaded? You wouldn't even know

Light fuse run like hell explode


My life is darker than black

Ready for war always under attack

Phantoms of past lives and devils of this

The kiss of death? Then kiss baby, kiss, kiss, kiss


Paul DeThroe lives in Batesville, Indiana and has two daughters. To check out more of Paul's horror, see his website: www.thedevilsprophet.com

Editor's Note: The upper artwork is by louis. A woodcut print; it originally appeared in the Summer 2010 issue of Ghostlight Magazine, the magazine of the Great Lakes Horror Writers Association.

Who Will Pick My Paper Flowers?

by Debbie Okun Hill

C2010

All Rights Reserved


Along the highway, grey asphalt

I used to sway to nature’s music

line my earthen bed

with Queen Anne’s Lace

white petals of wild daisies

purple loosestrife running

through my grass hair



But today, my feet are littered

with paper flowers

Tim Horton cups and

MacDonald bags

brown cardboard bent

white tissue curled

faded in sunlight

and I wonder

who will pick my cluster of

man-made flowers

now wet wash trashed

in summer’s warm rain?


Editor's Note: painting by Louis.

A Vicious Circle.

by Louis B. Shalako

c2010

All Rights Reserved


Real growth is irreversible.

You can’t go back there now.

Personal growth, it’s a vicious circle.

Where you were before;

It must have been awful uncomfortable —

Otherwise,

There would have been no incentive.

And you would have ended up,

Right back where you started.

You have done well, my child.

Welcome to the next level.

Just like before, now you know nothing.

The circle is complete.

And now you get to start all over again.