Inside
by Ted L Glines

Deep within
thinking mind
peeking in your window
late at night
seeing your private
space
your wrists and ankles bound
squirming squealing moaning
inferno orgasm
in your pain
your agony of fear
one cut at a time
time is endless pain
reversed crosses
so many of them
one for every time
you slighted me
carved slowly
in your trembling
bleeding flesh
no one will come
to help you
mercy will only come
with my final slash
your anguish feeds me
I am your worst nightmare
your friendly neighbor ...

Intermission Muse
by Ted L Glines

Summer out here - not a bit nippy
mellow groovin' east-Texan hippy
hotel guests are all in bed
nothin' movin' - the place is dead
playin' Diablo - killin' ghouls
watchin TV - dance of fools
the hour is late - stretch and yawn
watchin' this place until the dawn
nothin' to do that's vaguely trendy
maybe a Night Note to my dear Wendy
time to see what's on the Den
read and review the mighty pen
day to day - mid-night transition
between life's stories - intermission.

In Tallmansville
by Ted L Glines

Why do they go down deep in the mine
where the flowers don't grow and the sun don't shine,
death stalks them all as they work down there
in the shakin' ground and the deadly air,
and down in the deep of the Sago pit,
there's twelve more souls a-guarding it,
young men, old men, down in the hole,
dark as black lung - breathin' coal,
but down they go day after day
'cause it's their life and it's their pay
and an inner code must be obeyed,
“We trust in God, we're not afraid.”

Published in A place of...Amazing Grace, January 2006, a chapbook published by Debra J Harmes-Kurth and Barbary Chaapel, and Art With Words Chapbook Publications in Milton, West Virginia, commemorating the Sago Mine Disaster, with proceeds from sales going to the Miners Assistance Fund set up by the West Virginia Council of Churches. Contributing works to this chapbook were writers from all over America, and I feel so humble and honored to have been allowed to participate with my little verse. I remain amazed at how quickly so many writers responded to the Sago crisis, and the speed at which Debra and Barbary had the chapbook completed and ready for sale. It makes me proud to be numbered among such dedicated people.

The final stanza of “Watching Sago,” by Lola Warren, says it all:

“Shouts of joy and praise,
Geraldo sobbing, as false reports
Of rescue are followed by
A creshendo of heartbreak which
Reverberates around the world.”