METTLE, by Scott Matthews: This climb must be my ending quest, glory paves the road behind. My trek onto this mountain peak, the last hill left to climb. Temptations many did I slake and oft’ my way was woe. That I might pass through yonder gate I’ve bested every foe. There came a time I […]

AMBITION, PURPOSE, OUTCOME, by  Charles Saplak: DAYBREAK OF THE APPOINTED DAY: And yet another soldier will beseech The Dragon for his vision; a timeward glimpse of truth, a precious deep thought chosen for him and him alone. Light’s long arrows silently fly, Chip the mountainside free from night’s dark, Yet Sir Michael has been awake […]

THE DANCE, by Shennandoah Diaz: He danced the dance a million times before. Slide right, twist, lunge, pull up. Each movement graceful — Each blow destructive. He lived for the dance. The exchange of steel, The giving of flesh and blood, Each sacrifice made in honor replenishing the soil And feeding the legends that sustained […]

BEFORE THE BATTLE, by Vonnie Winslow Crist: On this witch-kissed morning, as I trudge northward, dampness frizzes my hair, worms its way into my joints. Beneath winter clouds draped like dark cloth above the trees, an unkindness of ravens descends, bickers over a half-eaten carcass. At my approach, the feathered trio complain, rise to an […]

WHAT SIEGLINDE SERPENTSLAYER SAID TO THE KING, by Megan Arkenberg: The truth, my lord, is that I am sick of monsters. I am sick of the smell of mountain aeries and brood caves, cool and salty-wet. I am tired of dragons’ riddles, feats of strength, game pieces carved of human bone, the musty whispering of […]