The Wreck of the S.S. Wheeler #16

Comments

  1. John BaumgartnerAugust 16, 2025 at 6:12 PM

    My timbers a shiver, my confusion prevails!
    Continue the story, please do not fail!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MHPayneAugust 16, 2025 at 6:40 PM

      Thirty-two poems:

      At a rate of one per day: that's the management's promise to all and sundry!

      Possibly even a hot-fudge sundry...

      Mike

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Folks Letting Me Blather

Image
I've known Greta Boris :      For more then five years now but not as many as ten years, I think, ever since she joined the OC Fictionaires, the writing group that I've been a member of for something like twenty years. She writes mostly mystery novels, some of which are pretty funny, some of which are pretty suspenseful, and some of which are pretty much both at the same time. She and another author, Megan Haskell , also run a website called The Author Wheel where they do podcasts and offer writing courses and share their experiences with the wide world of publishing. As they put, "We've made the mistakes so you don't have to!"      As part of their podcast series, they wanted to talk about the value of critique groups, so Greta asked me if I'd be willing to make various noises on that topic. I agreed, and the episode they put together from our conversation, " Staying True to Your Creativity With Mike Payne ," is now available...
Read more

A Scent's Assent

Image
He saunters, not a hint of awkwardness About his movements, flowing sweet as fire. Dolores, trying not to stare, selects A protein bar, a heated argument Among her schoolmates raising ruffled fur And growls. The guy's a feline, after all. The student body's ninety-eight percent canine. The whole school's aware. He hears them, Casey does, their yips and all Alive with bitter scents of awkwardness. Remaining smooth, he doesn't look, the fur Beneath his shirt on edge, a tickling fire He knows. It follows matching arguments From other schools his science course selects. Universities should be more universal. "Should" is the key word. In class, Dolores carefully selects A seat in back of Casey, watching all The rest digress, off-topic arguments Concerning species, full of awkwardness. The room of canines almost seems on fire With ears and whiskers folded close to fur. Students of science should be— There's that "should" again. Stupid subjunc...
Read more