The Inky Cloak of Blackness.

The inky cloak of blackness prevails

The terrors of the night unfold

The pillows mashed, the covers rolled

It never fails—

They gnash their teeth and scream and yell

Evil laughs for evil is bold

Evil is as evil does, and as it dares

And so ever rarely does evil fare thee well

And in the dim red eyes of the darkness

In existence since times before old

There is a word, a message, a glance,

A stare, a look; such an intimate dance.

It was long ago, when our hearts went cold

And long, long ago, did they foretell

The message is lost now, and no one cares

But it is this, and I say it unto you.

The likes of you—and your kind—can all go straight to hell.

End

Juno.

Juno. By Louis.

It's All in How You See the World

Otgonbayer Ersuu. (Wiki.)

I look back into the past and think and nod

Things remembered and things forgot

I shake my head and shrug my shoulders

All of that is gone

In all of the questions

In all of the events

All of those faces

All of those places and all of those times

Only one thing remains the same

That would be me, who I am and who I was

It is the basis for all of my terms of reference

But I still can’t tell you what I don’t know

I don’t even really remember all that much of it

I need some thing or some one, to remind me

In the future I will try to be a little more observant

It might be wise not to ask too many questions

And there are some things I will never figure out

But when it comes down—and sooner or later, it always does come down—

Then who is who

And who is what

What is true

And what is not

What is useless

And what you really need—

Well

That’s really all up to you, baby.

I guess it’s all in how you see the world.

END 

Our Heads Didn't Explode, Eh?

Our heads didn't explode, right? Eh?

2013 was a profound learning experience.

And that’s okay, because knowledge is power, power is money,

And money is sex.

It’s not what you got,

But how you use it.

Money talks,

Bullshit walks,

And action speaks louder than words

I can't even tell you what love is

I lose my objectivity, and it happens fast.

You'll have to figure that out for yourself

We all got our wish list

Of shit we got to do

Yeah, before our time runs out.

More than anything

I want to have some fun—and so we do.

Now this is really living.

I hope you brought enough for the rest of the class.

Share what you got,

Look after your friends

And if they sort of tolerate you, well, that’s half the battle.

Here’s looking at you, kid.

I’m only going to say this once so I’ll just spit it out.

We’re wishing you and yours,

All the best from Louis Shalako (…and other staff members as well. – ed.)

To you and yours in 2014.

Live long and prosper.

And remember to take a day off once in a while.

2013 had its moments, 2014 will too

What the fuck, eh.

At least our heads didn’t explode.

Written by Louis Shalako

The Top Ten Commandments for Authors.

Jacques-Louis David, Mars desarme par Venus.

The Top Ten Commandments for Authors.

Thou shalt not have any other Gods before the New York Times Bestseller List.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth, that is to say, that thou shalt not write fan fiction.

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God, namely and to wit, ‘publication,’ in pure and unadulterated vanity.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it wholly available for thy craft.

Honour thy father and mother by adopting a pen-name; for-crying-out-loud.

Thou shalt not kill thy critics.

Thou shalt not commit adultery with the publisher’s wife or harlot.

Thou shalt not steal story ideas unless they are, like, totally excellent.

Thou shalt not bear false or true witness against thy fellow authors.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbouring author’s wife, husband, daughter, son, aunt, uncle, nieces and nephews, friends, relatives or acquaintances, nor their pets or domesticated animals, and also nor their literary success even if you’re a better writer and they’re just a knucklehead.