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.
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.