DREAMS OF STARS

DREAMS OF STARS, by J.D. Harlock, pending art by Gary McClusky

 

 

Lord, I can see only smog and fire

when I sleep and dream of stars

for this airship can soar no higher

than the fumes of these cursed tars

 

oh, what a sorrowful sight to behold

thick soot has festered in the hull

my sturdy sails are patchworks of mold

my fearsome flag is a seared skull

 

charcoal-black, my sagging skin is stained

forgive me, m’hearties, for I fear I am ill

within grated gears, my mind doth waned

all that is left is your imperishable will…

 

to think, we could once raise the black

where the merchants of death thrived

then plunder the gold from their illicit gains

and return it to those the crown had denied

 

till that morn, the scarlet banners split the dawn,

as Her Majesty’s royal fleet ascended

their wrath by my brazen rebellion drawn

to have this skyborne brotherhood rended

 

now, alone against the storm, I fly us back home

holding out till the last of my breath

so that our spirits no longer have to roam

and you may find a peace in death

 

ah, if only skyward, I could yet ascend

onto that celestial plane

and bid you a last farewell, my friends

beyond this mortal bane

 

alas, I could never scale such a sacred spire

with an airship weighed down by the sins of my own scars

for there can only be smog and fire

when I sleep at last and dream of stars

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J. D. Harlock is an Eisner Award-nominated American writer, whose writing has been featured in Strange Horizons, Nightmare Magazine, The Comics Journal, The Griffith Review, and Queen’s Quarterly. You can find him on Bluesky, Instagram, LinkedIn, & Twitter.

 

Gary McCluskey has been a professional artist for more than 20 years. He’s done book covers for every genre imaginable from fantasy, horror, romance and sci-fi to an afterlife memoir, as well artwork for children’s books and RPG games. Recently he completed 4 issues of comic book about a vampire-shark and several interior illustrations for a new hardcover version of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ ‘The Oakdale Affair’. He’s currently working on a creator owned comic book ‘The Dawn Hunters’ for the near future.