SUPERNATURAL SUNDAY

Moonlight, Lace and Mayhem Guest Blog with dark poet E.J. Stevens

Hello all! I am thrilled to be here at Moonlight, Lace and Mayhem. This is such a wondrous and magical time of year and I was very excited to learn that I would be guest blogging so near the Winter Solstice.

2009 has been a very special year for me as an author. My haunting new release From the Shadows was published in September and is now available in both paperback and Kindle editions. I also began work on two additional collections of dark poetry Shadows of Myth and Legend (dark tales of creatures from folklore, myth and legend) and Gears, Steam & Absinthe Daydreams (a Steampunk collection).

I wanted to create something special for you all today as a gift for visiting me here at Moonlight, Lace and Mayhem. I live in Maine and this week we experienced a ferocious snow and ice storm which helped to inspire this poem, The Winter Queen. The Winter Queen has never before been published and will be featured at a later date in Shadows of Myth and Legend. Enjoy!

The Winter Queen

In the dark world of Shadow
During Solstice the Longest Night
The Winter Queen stirs
While her dreaded frost minions
Take flight

In this land of cold and fear
Stands a palace of ice and stone
Where locked deep within
Sits the Winter Queen upon
Her throne

Awareness returns to her
As she tries to open her eyes
Memory and pain
Erupts, but ice seals away
Her cries

The only thing not frozen
Are Winter Queen’s immortal tears
Which sparkle as they
Flow down her cheeks mingling with
Her fears

No one dare enter her realm
No man will ever kiss her lips
For death lingers in
Her embrace, into abyss
He’ll slip

So on this dark Solstice night
The Winter Queen sits upon her throne
Knowing she will sit here
Forever frozen and all
Alone

I hope you all have a fabulous holiday season. Please stop by my blog (http://www.fromtheshadows.info/) From the Shadows and say hello!
XX,
E.J.

Blog/website: http://www.fromtheshadows.info/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/EJStevensAuthor
Amazon link paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-E-J-Stevens/dp/0984247505/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255626819&sr=8-1
Amazon kindle edition: http://www.amazon.com/From-the-Shadows-ebook/dp/B002T460JA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1259160828&sr=1-1
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/e.j.stevens
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1569666.E_J_Stevens
Email: e.j.stevens.author@gmail.com

Dark poet E.J. Stevens is the author of the haunting new release From the Shadows. E.J. Stevens is a graduate of the University of Maine at Farmington with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Erica has worked a variety of jobs that demonstrate the human condition including schools, psychiatric hospitals and (*shudder*) shopping malls. She currently resides on the coast of Maine where she finds daily inspiration for her writing.

Excerpt:

The Boatman Below

Duck my head
As I enter
The ceilings are low

Fingers trailing
Damp brickwork
Feel my way as I go

To seek out
The boatman
The Boatman Below

Descend
Pain darkened stairways
My footsteps echo

Wings brush by
In the black
A bat or a crow

The musty smell
Rushes to me
Fitful wind does blow

These effluvium filled waters
Mix with tides
ebb and flow

Creating the murky stage
Upon which
The boatman will row

He appears with a
Flash of his shark teeth
Laughing demon eyes glow

I stumble to him
In silence
Feeling weak and hollow

His hand snakes out
To grab me
There is nowhere to go

He dances with glee
And sways
To and fro

While he sups from
This chalice
Of pain and sorrow.

By E.J. Stevens
Excerpt from Chapter 1 Graveyard Whispers, From the Shadows. 2009.

PHANTASM FRIDAY REVIEW OF POETRY

I dabble with poetry on occasion. I wouldn’t say I’m good at it. As if writing in general isn’t challenging enough, I sometimes love the extra challenge that poetry creates. Or rather, the “rules” I place upon myself when writing poetry is challenging. I enjoy setting a standard of cadence and rhyming. And then I enjoy starting over with a new set of standards. For example, here are a few different poems I’ve written. (Warning! None of them are works of art!)

~~~~~

IMMORTAL KISS

Through your mortality I live
Stealing carnal nourishment
Feasting upon the soul you give
Alive! Beyond earthly bounds

With life, you pulse
You tease with warm, soft skin
My need results
You are forever mine

I swell with your alluring scent
Mind exploding, chest heaving
Your offering is my intent
Senses reeling, I take you

With love, I give my immortal kiss
My bloody embrace
Transcends you with waves of tainted bliss
My arms caress death

Your life explodes around me
On memories and emotions I feast
Revealed for my eyes to see
To know you and love you intimately

His blood mixed with mine
In death, I awoke
Trapped for all of time
In immortality

~~~~~

WHITE EMBRACE

It reached outward, feeding upon the night,
Reaper prowling for a dying soul.
No rest...no rest...until It gained Its goal.
The essence of life nourishing Its delight.

A dog howled a warning to Its prey.
It pulled the victim into Its white embrace.
My father, my father, I give thee succor and grace.
It smiled and became the friend that would betray.

© Gracen Miller ~ These poems may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the author.

~~~~~

As you can see in each poem, the rhyming pattern deviates in both, but they both also share the same number of syllables in certain lines so that they flow or dance together easily—in my head anyway. LOL The pattern then repeats throughout those poems. Poetry can be as difficult or as simple as the author desires to make them. Basically, it comes down to the rules or lack of rules a poet places upon themselves when crafting poetry.

How many of you write poetry? If you’ve never tried, I challenge you to give it a try. Just don’t be too strict on yourself and have fun while writing them! And if you’ve written some, I encourage you to share them with us.

With poetry in mind, I recently had the pleasure of reading a book of poetry by E.J. Stevens. Her book of poems is entitled, From the Shadows. When reading poetry you have to read it with a different eye and thought process than when reading a work of fiction, such as a romance or thriller novel. When I write poetry, I often write it with the hopes that there can be more than one interpretation to it. It felt like Ms. Stevens’ wrote many of her poems with the same intentions.

From the Shadows is an easy read, but there’s depth to these poems, with a story to be told in each one. And each and every one of her poems was thought provoking. Sometimes the poems are morbid and dark. Sometimes they’re poignant reminders of loved ones we’ve lost, such as My Mother’s Garden. At other times, I saw dark, unhealthy romanticism. Your Kiss is a Riptide, for example. This poem in particular reminded me of the abusive relationship my best friend had with her husband. She wanted out of the relationship, but she kept getting caught up in his “riptide” until she was almost dead on the inside. Ms. Stevens may not have meant for me to interpret this particular poem in this way, but that was how the poem affected me. And often times—in my opinion at least—poetry is about feelings and emotions, and I easily felt some form of emotion with each of Ms. Stevens’ poems.

As I read several of her poems, I could hear them set to music. Their dark, haunting words reminding me of the late 1980’s dark and haunting song, Close My Eyes Forever by Ozzy Osborne and Lita Ford. I love that song, still love that song, and could easily hear many of her poems sung in my head by some heavy metal singers today. Maybe Shinedown, Five Finger Death Punch, Papa Roach or even Rammastein, would be able to turn her poetry into lyrics.

Some of her simplest lines are her most vivid. For instance:

Shadow Queen of the Sidhe
“Blackberry lips
Brimstone embers in her hair…”

Graveyard Whispers
“Resonates through their caskets
Rattling cloth and bone…”

Plague Rat
“Gasping wetly for breath
Prayers pass cracked lips
Hoping for the release of death...”

Wow! What powerful and vivid descriptions with simple words. I can visualize exactly what she’s written and each one of these showcased above is startling in my mind’s eye. Her poems are written in a myriad of different ways, so the cadence never gets old. And while I liked some poems better than others—of course that’s with any story ;-)—I still enjoyed the totality of her book of poetry and I’m glad Ms. Stevens allowed me the privilege of reading her work. For anyone that loves dark poetry, I think you’ll love this book of poetry written by E.J. Stevens as well.

Still undecided if E.J.’s poetry is right for you? Come back on Sunday to get a sneak peek of one of her poems from her upcoming release, Shadows of Myth and Legend, and a sample of one of her poems From the Shadows! It’s a treat you will not want to miss!

~~~~~

Disclosure pursuant to FTC Rules: This book was received complimentary of the publisher, author or publicist. In most cases at Moonlight, Lace & Mayhem, whoever reviews the book gets to keep the book unless another arrangement has been made between reviewer, publisher, author and/or publicist. Just because a publisher, author and/or publicist provides a free book for review does not guarantee a flattering review. All reviews are the opinions of the reviewer and are never based upon receiving a free copy of the author’s work.

~Moonlight, Lace & Mayhem~