Counting Words Release

Today, October 25 2024, marks the release of a new collection of poems from Stephen Brooke, "Counting Words." The book is  available from Arachis Press (arachispress.com) in print or as free ebooks (PDF and EPUB). Stop by and get your copy!

Wind-Wise, a poem

 Wind-Wise

I am not wind-wise nor do stars
  whisper secrets in my ear.

Count the clouds and say to me
  our dawn will come gray and rainy.

Should I doubt you? I am not wind-wise;
  let others look to the future.

Stephen Brooke ©2024

Lentils, a poem

Lentils

Through windows obscured by evening’s frost
  I watch the gray ending of another day.
The trees have become their naked shadows;
  all the bird are long flown away.
Lentils slowly cook in the kitchen,
  with garlic and onions and green herbs.
Their fragrance fills my empty house;
  there is none here to share them.
They will warm my body this night
  but my heart is filled only with winter.

Stephen Brooke ©2024

Pomegranates, a poem

 Pomegranates

Two pomegranates ripened by my door,
  dangling in the morning sun.
Share one with me now;
  the other will hang there still,
in the lengthening blue shadow
  of the house, when we return.

Stephen Brooke ©2024

Not really a sijo, though it is somewhat in the form of one. I'm willing to simply call it a poem.

Pursue, a poem

Pursue

I followed my heart, but it told me lies
nor could I put trust in my own two eyes;
reality names itself in some new guise,
each promising its more elusive prize.

Yet when I pursued the fools’ gold that gleamed
along some lost border of dreams left undreamed,
naught ever turned out to be as it once seemed;
all offered in hostage remains unredeemed.

Too easily have I been oft misled
by those empty words I myself have said,
as I set illusions to dance in my head —
pursuing tomorrow as it ever fled.

Stephen Brooke ©2024

More an exercise in language than in meaning, perhaps.

Mean Mary - Murder Creek

 

Americana music from the popular Mean Mary James. This is a video of the song 'Murder Creek' from the newly-released album, 'Woman Creature.'

Review: Incomplete

A review of the novel 'Incomplete' by S.I. Foote

Although ‘science-fantasy’ is not a term of which I am particularly fond, it does describe ‘Incomplete’ as well as any other. It could also be considered a superhero story of sorts; the ‘Nine’ are very much in the same vein as the X-Men, the Justice League, and so on. With their own unique quirks, to be sure.

Anyway, it’s pretty decent science-fantasy. Oh, sure I can find things to criticize. There are some plot holes and inconsistencies; e.g. why did Plan AZ exist when there had never been any problem killing a Rogue before? We have a ‘magic’ system that does not make a lot of sense, but does, for the most part, respect its own internal logic. There is quite a bit of reliance on coincidence to tie the plot elements together. A certain amount of slightly clumsy info-dumping occurs.

But the story holds together and is written well enough. Certainly interesting enough and entertaining enough to keep me reading and to get me started on the sequel. The characters are well realized and their actions are believable. They are people we can care about, sympathize with—even the antagonists. I can recommend ‘Incomplete’ to fans of speculative fiction and to readers in general.

More on the author and their books at: https://www.sifoote.com/