Horror Novel

Handsome Mark Sampson is coming,

crossing the Northumberland Strait,

a tanned satchel strapped on his back

like a quiver, plump with pages

from a new novel, chapters that taste

like chilled Prosecco, Picasso piles

of rakes leaves to cannonball.

There’s an ancient demon temptress

who urges nakedness, to bathe

moonlight beneath murky waters.

There’s a yard sale talisman, a mad

gunman whose Moncton rampage

inspires the arc, a story that wrings

like a twisting bar rag.

You can smell four hundred pages,

images with rancor, heavy odor

on your hands after reading,

like picking pennies off the floor

of a piss-wet washroom. An urge

to wipe-off, for a holy blessing.

Then approach every shadow as

ominous, see specters in bedroom

mirrors and in your nightmares.

Purging his protagonist with

a retching splash, like a teenage

booze-puke behind a camp tent.

Handsome Mark Sampson is

stepping off the boat, the sea breeze

holds a brine. Keep away, keep away

from Lowfield, and your children

within your sightline.

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Gerald Arthur Moore is an adventurer, a part-time university lecturer, a high school teacher, and a rugby coach living in New Brunswick, Canada. NON-Publishing released his first book of poetry Shatter the Glass, Shards of Flame in 2018. His new book is Flak Jacket 2024.