Size / / /

Spiders Dance

Hens grow teeth
in graveyards,
picking black daffodils
in the shades
of broken stones.
Shadows smile
and hair grows
thick on toads,
frogs laugh,
old blood dripping
from their lips.
Spiders waltz
hanging shrouds on
the dried skeletons
of grinning worms.

There is
even the Ghost
of a Gargoyle
riding
his night colored mare.

(Untitled)

It creeps
through like night
in a country
of worn fields,

Taking
the last daylight
out in a
lightened dusk.

It sits
in a resting
breath as
peace, and seems

As sleep,
giving those
a gentle dream
of death

 

Copyright © 1968-71 Michael Marsh

Reader Comments


Michael Marsh is the author of "Translations from the Gibberish," "Sand," "Next to Water," and numerous poems and book reviews appearing in Star*Line, The Transformation Times, and others. He edited poetry at Portland State University in the 1970s. Marsh died in the early 1990s; these poems are printed with custodial permission.



Bio to come.
Current Issue
22 Apr 2024

We’d been on holiday at the Shoon Sea only three days when the incident occurred. Dr. Gar had been staying there a few months for medical research and had urged me and my friend Shooshooey to visit.
...
Tu enfiles longuement la chemise des murs,/ tout comme d’autres le font avec la chemise de la mort.
The little monster was not born like a human child, yelling with cold and terror as he left his mother’s womb. He had come to life little by little, on the high, three-legged bench. When his eyes had opened, they met the eyes of the broad-shouldered sculptor, watching them tenderly.
Le petit monstre n’était pas né comme un enfant des hommes, criant de froid et de terreur au sortir du ventre maternel. Il avait pris vie peu à peu, sur la haute selle à trois pieds, et quand ses yeux s’étaient ouverts, ils avaient rencontré ceux du sculpteur aux larges épaules, qui le regardaient tendrement.
We're delighted to welcome Nat Paterson to the blog, to tell us more about his translation of Léopold Chauveau's story 'The Little Monster'/ 'Le Petit Monstre', which appears in our April 2024 issue.
For a long time now you’ve put on the shirt of the walls,/just as others might put on a shroud.
Issue 15 Apr 2024
By: Ana Hurtado
Art by: delila
Issue 8 Apr 2024
Issue 1 Apr 2024
Issue 25 Mar 2024
By: Sammy Lê
Art by: Kim Hu
Issue 18 Mar 2024
Strange Horizons
Issue 11 Mar 2024
Issue 4 Mar 2024
Issue 26 Feb 2024
Issue 19 Feb 2024
Issue 12 Feb 2024
Load More
%d bloggers like this: