Size / / /

They come in a great variety

of sizes and shapes.

Whether you wish to find

or avoid them in your travels,

The Black Hole Hunter's Guide

is the most complete and accurate

source of information.

You should think of this book as analogous

to a mushroom hunter's guide,

always keeping in mind the distinction

between mushrooms and toadstools—

a person not thoroughly schooled

who wants to savor black holes

may discover ignorance can result

in one of them devouring you

rather than your experiencing the reverse.

Properly approached

(keep in mind for further comparison

any good birdwatcher's handbook),

these can be your friends

and a constant source

of intellectual nourishment.

Fitted with the proper eye and ear gear,

the devout hunter

will be able to see where the black hole,

shy creature, almost lurks,

weaving light and electromagnetic chatter

into a nest of camouflage,

and perhaps even hear its cry.

The call each produces

to announce its territory

is as distinctive

as the varieties of birdcall.

You may order a copy of the guide

on a thirty-day free trial,

available from the publisher of

Dwarf Stars for Dummies.

and Meteorites' 40 Greatest Hits.

Order now:

copies are vanishing quickly from the shelves.




Duane Ackerson's poetry has appeared in Rolling Stone, Yankee, Prairie Schooner, The Magazine of Speculative Poetry, Cloudbank, alba, Starline, Dreams & Nightmares, and several hundred other places. He has won two Rhysling awards and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. He lives in Salem, Oregon. You can find more of his work in our archives.
Current Issue
16 Dec 2024

Across the train tracks from BWI station, a portal shimmered in the shade of a patch of tall trees. From her seat on a northbound train taking on passengers, Dottie watched a woman slip a note out of her pocket, place it under a rock, strip off her work uniform, then walk naked, smiling, into the portal.
exposing to the bone just how different we are
a body protesting thinks itself as a door out of a darkroom, a bullet, too.
In this episode of SH@25, Editor Kat Kourbeti sits down with Vivian (Xiao Wen) Li to discuss her foray into poetry, screenwriting, music composition and more, and also presents a reading of her two poems published in 2022, 'Ave Maria' and 'The Mezzanine'.
Wednesday: The Theme Park of Women’s Bodies by Maggie Cooper 
Friday: Your Own Dark Shadow: A Selection of Lost Irish Horror Stories edited by Jack Fennell 
Issue 9 Dec 2024
Issue 2 Dec 2024
By: E.M. Linden
Podcast read by: Jenna Hanchey
Issue 25 Nov 2024
Issue 18 Nov 2024
By: Susannah Rand
Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
Issue 11 Nov 2024
Issue 4 Nov 2024
Issue 28 Oct 2024
Issue 21 Oct 2024
By: KT Bryski
Podcast read by: Devin Martin
Issue 14 Oct 2024
Issue 7 Oct 2024
By: Christopher Blake
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
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