CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

This week’s verse moves from a science fiction poem about the dangers of an unauthorised planetary excursion to a fantasy verse about monsters and heroes. It is taken from Another 365 Days of Poetry , a collection of mixed-genre poetry released in 2019. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dangers in the Dark With carapaces shining and throwing torchlight back our nemesis revealed themselves a gleaming black on black And we knew then why the miners in all good sense had run knew why those brave folk shook and craved work in the sun for, suddenly, we did the same and our oaths we did regret for we had sworn to clear the mines and see all dangers met We had though it orcs or goblins or elves gone dark We had not anticipated multi-legged monsters to come hunting in the dark. We had thought bipedal, bows and arrows,

This week’s short story takes us f rom a colony threatened by plague to a fantasy world where fish fall from the sky, but once a year Welcome to This Year's Star Fish . Every year the fish come down from the stars, and every year Faulknor hopes they come for him. Well, this year he’s tired of waiting; this year it’s his turn to do the seeking. This year, he’s going to catch himself the fish of his dreams. This year, he’s coming for them… just as soon as he’s finished with the assassin, and the elf with its human and orc sidekicks. Yeah, after that he’s going to find himself a fish. This Year's Star Fish The fish came down from the stars but once a year. They came in glittering falls of colour and light, the most welcome and dreaded rainbows in all the lands. Some stayed, swimming through the forest trees, or down the streets, before leaping skyward, once more. And others left straight away. Faulknor chased them. He tried to catch them in butterfly- or scoop