Welcome back to another Horror Haikuesday! For the last few weeks we’ve had some guest artists on the blog and next up we have a guest poet! Say hello to Benjamin Blake. Ben is joining us from New Zealand with some longer form poetry exploring the haunted repercussions of building on sacred grounds.
To Inspire You:
Artwork created by me 🙂 (Jeanette Andromeda).
Indian Burial Grounds
Written by Benjamin Blake
A black house stands
Over an endless hedge-maze
Take the wrong twists and turns
And you’ll find yourself at the edge of a cliff
The ocean throwing itself upon the darkened rocks below
And maybe you will too
There are places where time wears thin
In a circle of surrounding firs
Or at the feet of a crumbling statuette
Rosebushes that reach with thorny arms
Begging to embrace
Once the front doors gape wide
Then swallow you whole
You will find yourself
In corridors that don’t seem to stay the same
Rooms that stink of past suicides
The elevator rattles straight down
To the burning coals of the boiler room
Visions of a shotgun wedding
Painting walls a new crimson
Severing conjugal ties
And ripe jugulars
Carpets can be replaced
The remnants of past lives
Will remain
Created by You:
Last week we had “Horizon” by Alex Murd to spark our imaginations. Here’s what you guys created:
Rage manifested
Justice’s thundered tempest
Wrongs would be made right#horrorhaikuesday https://t.co/4Pxra7MFzQ— Kerry E.B. Black (@BlackKerryblick) June 13, 2018
Dust settles in me
mouth dry, tongue swollen, the priest
denies me the last rite#horrorhaikuesday #illustration by Alex Murd of @MurdComics pic.twitter.com/nOK5rcn9CF— SelkieMade (@selkiemade) June 13, 2018
No one lived enough
To get to learn what came first
Was him or the storm?#horrorhaikuesday pic.twitter.com/FMqmKntIce— Loren Killdeer 💜☔ (@LorenKilldeer) June 12, 2018
Wherever I go,
The storm goes too; I use it
To punish old flames. #horrorhaikuesday #illustration by Alex Murd of @MurdComics pic.twitter.com/yFzNHNzC5Y— David Tully (@CynicalEyebrow) June 12, 2018
Hell storm, full of souls
ride the shrieking wind—the damned
delivered by Death #HorrorHaikuesday pic.twitter.com/Qxtol1S44v— A. F. Stewart (@scribe77) June 12, 2018
children of tempests
take solace inside the storm
where you can’t reach them#horrorhaikuesday pic.twitter.com/n06nbwBJQW
— Kylie Goetz (xkg) (@eXtremeKylieG) June 12, 2018
Learn More About Today’s Guest Poet:
Praise for Standing on the Threshold of Madness and Benjamin Blake
“I was most impressed with Standing on the Threshold of Madness. These dark, brooding vignettes do far more than send a shudder up one’s spine (although they do that again and again, with elegance and panache). Benjamin Blake has found a way to infuse into his horrific lyrics a keen sensitivity to human emotions, an understanding of the fragility of life, and a bleak portrayal of the evanescence of all existence. This is a volume that aficionados of weird poetry will want to read over and over.”–S. T. Joshi
“Benjamin Blake relishes funereal lyricism with a spice of surrealism.” – Ramsey Campbell
“Language and imagery rule in this collection of dark visions. Blake has a distinctive voice, rich in surrealism, and he uses it to considerable effect.” – Bruce Boston, SFPA Grandmaster Poet
“A plethora of dark and haunting poems that could be likened to a bone chilling symphony overall! Mood enhancing language that will curdle the blood, and excellent, original imagery!” – Marge Simon, Bram Stoker Award winning poet
Horror Made 
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