★Books ★ Writing ★ Creation ★ A dream captured in a crystalline moment.
Surface Wound
Slicing thinner than a cat’s claw
Into sensitive throes of pain
That mean less than they imply
Only a surface wound,
But one infested with parasites
Implacable, coiling where they fall
Never relenting to leave you alone
Amidst your own thoughts
Copyright ©2019 S. M. Shuford
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Twelve Scorpions
Circling the desert of my home,
Twelve scorpions of bronze and turquoise
Mechanical fire in their pincers
Usurped from the hearth of my vitality
Tortured by the symphony of my own joy,
They bleed my ears and leave me to die
Copyright ©2019 S. M. Shuford
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Thank you so much, those who have supported my site and been reading my books! It’s much appreciated, especially in these trying times! 🙂
Somebody definitely has been reading them, as three have consistently been in the Top 10 for Contemporary Poetry on Amazon for over a month! The last upcoming poetry collection I’ve got for awhile has been delayed until July, but in the meantime, these are still free.
I wish I had realized this earlier, but please note that some versions of Amazon only offer some of the Kindle chapbooks that are supposed to be free for free, for whatever reason, but Smashwords offers an alternate Kindle version worldwide. It’s just not as pretty as the Amazon version. They can be bought for inexpensive, though, and they’re available in print, so please take a look if you haven’t already! Be sure to add them to Goodreads, too!
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Botched Up
It’s easy to claim you wouldn’t love one
Who martyred everything that they were,
Botched up inside and out, but at the core
They suffered it all for your own heart
Doesn’t that reclaim the beauty on its own?
Copyright ©2019 S. M. Shuford
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Don’t Dream
Better never to fear the abyssal and endless
Better to witness darkness than what it hides
Don’t dream, don’t sleep, don’t awaken
And you’ll never have to face seeing it
To speak in your head catches its attention,
To hear what it craves is to succumb to madness
Better never to fear the cloak that veils it
Copyright ©2019 S. M. Shuford
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Common Ground
We share no cell nor appendage
Not a mitochondria links our blood
You awaken when I’m craving sleep
And you interrupt when I’m mindful
I crawl to the mountains,
You slither down to your swamp
And we’ll never share a common ground
Copyright ©2019 S. M. Shuford
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A Rabid Distressor
He shivers through the fog of night
A rage-mad animal on the prowl
He is not a man nor his phantom,
Only a rabid distressor bearing gifts
Which are little more than arsenic
Concealed in the globe of a night terror
Copyright ©2019 S. M. Shuford
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I believe nearly the entire Poetry Collection is effectively free in all of its digital forms, except for the omnibus of art and cut materials that is Book Zero. This particular entry is loosely themed around fairytale horrors and romances.
This giveaway, like the others, is indefinitely permanent, because it’s my personal motto that poetry is the one genre that should not be barred behind hefty prices. If it’s in my control, at least, which most of it is. By its nature, poetry is intended to be shared among others. It and the rest of the series is available on Kindle, but the first three are also in ePub and PDF formats on Smashwords, Kobo, and other major sellers worldwide. Enjoy!
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Forever and ever and ever, so feel free to pick one up if it interests you! Blood Ballet is a compilation of horror poems with themes of feminism and body horror. It’s also available in ePub and PDF through Smashwords, Kobo, and the other major retailers. In a bit of other news, I’ve had to delay the next few entries in the series, Book 4 to June 16 and Books 5 and 6 to next year, to focus on more important work, so this should make up for it! Enjoy! If you read it, you’re welcome to let me know what you thought. 🙂
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Alive
Awake, a heart beating only in motion
Never alive without the ominous question
Will the blood still churn in the morning?
Will I succumb like those before me,
Weeping like children in front of an audience
That never tried to notice until hours burnt down
The shack of wills, so hasty and pointless, was felled
And they decided not to exist, only a motion
Copyright ©2019 S. M. Shuford
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These are the first four entries in my ongoing poetry saga. As always, eBook versions are $3USD or less – several are free, including a PDF version for those without eBook readers. These are available from Smashwords, Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books, and others, and all have a print edition for sale. Feel free to add them to Goodreads if you have an interest in reviewing one later. These make up books zero-through-three and the fourth and fifth should be out this June.
Absolute Heaven Blurb: “Absolute Heaven is an omnibus of poems that capture the darkness which hides deep in the mind. Devilishly blurring the lines between romantic hatred and grotesque love, Absolute Heaven is a work of raw emotion, blood and nightmare that spans all genres of horror. Not for the faint of soul or the weak at heart.”
Cosmic Love Blurb: “Solemn and dreamlike, Cosmic Love paints a vivid image of love and hurt in the wake of an unknowable future. An infusion of science and magic, heart and mind, this poetry collection rains down its verses like stars. Cosmic Love is nothing short of inspiring with its dark, imaginative romances.”
Blood Ballet Blurb: “Straight from the dark side of the female experience, this collection is a theatre of blood sprouted from an embryo of prejudice, injustice and mental illness. The poems in Blood Ballet may wear a violent mask, but their core holds a thousand years of women’s heartbreak and pain. Blood Ballet is a social and psychological horror story of murders, witch hunts, self-harm and nightmares – a hidden history brought to the open in honor of those who have had to suffer it in silence.”
Infinite Summer Blurb: “Infinite Summer is spun with a love that peaks and dies like the sun. Inspired by the dual nature of fairytales, this collection of poems is heavy with magic, ghosts, and memories lost to the golden enchantments of a summer’s day. Infinite Summer is in equal parts haunting and charming, a macabre kind of romance that only an imp’s curse could bring about.”
Absolute Heaven is absolutely free on Amazon Kindle from today until this weekend (May 22-26), if you’re feeling brave for some unadulterated weirdness from the bowels of Hell and beneath. Objectively, this is a very strange book. I birthed this monstrosity, so I don’t really see it as abnormal, but it is really out there and different. So, if that’s your flavor, or if you just want to own the whole collection, pick one up. It’s free in all regions.
Oh, and if you do read it, add it to Goodreads or write a review. It doesn’t have to be anything poignant, lengthy or gushing, just your honest thoughts are appreciated. 🙂
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Blood Ballet is a book of horror poetry laced, in both subtle and violent ways, with feminist themes. There’s no more of a dystopian time to publish something of this nature, hm? Though I expected it to give me a lot more hassle during publication. The paperback may or may not be available yet, depending on what time you look at this, and the “official” Kindle version isn’t free yet, but the ePub and alternate Kindle version is. I know, confusing. Here are the main sellers, but check your favourite eBook place to see if Blood Ballet has arrived there, because it might have.
Fair warning, this entry is arguably one of the darkest, and has some potentially troubling content.
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Blood on Your Hands
The false sympathy of a fool
Appealing to those you plan to kill
The blood of women on your hands,
Their children, their fathers
I would shatter my vow of violence
To mirror your actions unto you
Never so powerless as I’ve been
Surrounded by the false piety of fools
Copyright ©2019 S. M. Shuford
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Cosmic Love has since dropped to around #10 or so, but for quite a few days it was the top hit in contemporary poetry! It’s also charted fairly well in dark fantasy, considering there’s a much larger volume of that genre out there. If any readers of this blog picked a copy up, I thank you! It’s much appreciated.
The Kindle edition and ePub are still free for the taking, as I’ve noted before. The next entry in the series should be out around May 16th-May 18th, with books three and four following suit close behind. I’m still not sure of the status of five, six and beyond, because after these I am taking a break from poetry to work on my fiction. Poetry is my hobby, fiction is my passion.
Stay tuned for a trivia and commentary later this week. It’s not an analysis, don’t worry. How pompous would you have to be to analyze your own book? No, it’s just some fun facts and making-of tidbits. Nothing grand, but might be of interest.
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Flower Crown
The triad of sisters crowned with poppies,
Twirling into the hour of the equinox
The spring of mother water spider
Crawling up from the guts of the earth
To rain upon heaven from the inside out
Gentle dream of the aeon before judgment
Copyright ©2019 S. M. Shuford
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Cosmic Love, the latest in my foray into genre poetry, is now officially free ad infinitum. Forever and eternal, worldwide. At least the eBook versions, but there’s also a fairly snazzy paperback available for not too much if you prefer print. I know some stand by print religiously, so I make a point to offer it if I can.
This entry in the series is one of romantic melancholy, with some tinges of science fiction aesthetic and dark fantasy.
All versions should be in beautiful order. If you get a copy, reviews would be appreciated. Feel free to interact with me on Goodreads, I love to hear what people think. I’ll be doing a series of commentary on this and Absolute Heaven soon as well. Tell your poetic friends, help it hit the top of the chart! At least for its fifteen minutes of fame, that is. It’s also available on several other eBook sellers, like Apple Books, but I certainly don’t feel like listing them all, so you’re free to search your favourites. Enjoy! 🙂
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Somewhere Below
An electric larvae that sleeps in our heart
Hear it gestate with the voice of a human
Somewhere below, deep in the cerebrum
Hear it aging, fed by the scarlet darkness
Infinite, but doesn’t know, never knows
Copyright ©2019 S. M. Shuford
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