Poems; a Strategic Rationale


When fiction defines you, but stories refuse to gel –

plots sit leaden, deaf and numb;

characters drift aimless, without goals;

sentences stumble, half-formed and forlorn toward the trash.

When interruptions rattle like machine guns from surrounding trenches

drawing your gaze, tautening nerves;

muddying thoughts, pummeling your muse.

When demands come barking, bulletins whistling through the air

you dive for cover, behind telephones and monitors

whiteboards and income statements –

lest your senses are left splattered on the wall.

Distractions, distractions, provoking your reactions.

The enemy is in the walls, the foundations.

Unclear orders squawk through tinny speakers.

Victims lie screaming at your feet!

Instead of raging, hysterical and distraught.

Try moving softly into shadows

Drawing colours down,

allowing words to lose themselves in play

mind-dancing through minefields,

cavorting through ordered ranks

their trails of mischief fluttering like bright banners in the sky.

Poems to commemorate the freeing of your soul.




Get the scoop on my new novel, The Human Template at https://dalelsproule.com.


I write literature of the fantastic. My short story collection, Psychedelia Gothique is mostly psychological horror. My just released novel, The Human Template is available through most online book retailers - and book two of the diptych, The Carnivorous Forest will appear in 2021. https://www.dalelsproule.com As a book reviewer I have written for Rue Morgue Magazine and AE Science Fiction. As a visual artist, I have illustrated books and magazines and have carved numerous sculptures out of stone.

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