CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

This week’s verse moves from a fantasy verse about underground monsters to a fantasy renga about a stranger in need. It is taken from Another 365 Days of Poetry , a collection of mixed-genre poetry released in 2019. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Winter's Guest Arrives snow upon the ground a slippery white blanket marred by blurred footprints The traveller came weeping Knocking while we were sleeping ice within the air its cold fire carries mourning hunters’ howls haunting We lifted the latch in time, to close it, stop those behind the hearth fire burns high flames leaping, spreads crimson light touched with golden warmth The traveller thanks us all outside the pack leaves, snow falls. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can find the first tw...

Last week we had a science-fiction piece set in the near future . Today’s piece is a short joined-worlds fantasy that forms the February 1st entry in Another 365 Days of Flash Fiction . ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- From the War Zone to… Karaval thought the sky was about to fall, or, perhaps, just the ceiling. The whole building shook as the bombardment continued around him. Dust and small pieces of ceiling fell around him, as he curled under the desk. He had been meaning to go straight through it to the alley beyond, but now… He listened as something whistled and roared overhead, and wished there was a hole he could crawl into. Maybe coming into the warehouse office had been a mistake. He was sure of it when, moments later, two arms reached out of the solid, concrete floor and pulled him through it, and into the tunnel below. He was even more sure, when the monster that held him, tucked him under its arm, and loped down ...