SELAPHESNE, by Kevin Sandefur, with artwork by Simon Walpole   The proud banners tremble and drift as they fall, Like a tapestry tumbling soft from the wall, But there aren’t any guards left to answer the call Of the palace bugle.   It sounds out so sprightly, so sweet, and so clear, With a luster […]

HAMELIN IN THE DISTANCE, by Maria Schrater, with audio by the writer     My fiddle will not tune right, and my bow is prone to breaking I am a poor musician whom all melody has forsaken I used to while away the hours telling lays of kings and towers, Dragons, rings, unearthly powers—enough to […]

THE CANDLE-MAKER AND HER KNIGHTS QUESTING, by Kelly Peach, with audio by The Bard     The candle-maker wears a silken gown Of blackest ink and broidered gibbous moons And shiver sta rs. The candles, lowered down With supple wrist while humming mirthless tunes, Are dipped in iron vat of paraffin, Some bacon fat, and […]

SHY DAISIES, by Gretchen Tessmer, with artwork by Andrea Alemanno     She’s muttering to herself oh, clasp these hands together before we’re all done in— keep them steady keep them still don’t shiver even as the woods dress in winter-white all their apple seeds and maple saplings close to the chest, sleeping under this […]

The Portrait of the Bold Captain, by Deborah L. Davitt, artwork by Karolína Wellartová     Every portrait is a lesson in what the portrayed wishes you to see take this one hanging here, the bold and doughty captain his falcon on his shoulder, a sword at one hip, a book hanging from a baldric […]