102318c

By the way, a week ago I was hit by a car. It wasn't that bad!  I was crossing a driveway in my wheelchair, and a student was at the end of the driveway watching the traffic but not looking in front of her car, as it turned out. She started moving as I was literally a foot in front of her. I slapped the hood of her car and shouted, which might have been the only reason she noticed me. She hit my chair and I didn't know if she hit my leg (remember, I can't feel it). The chair still worked, and might have had a few small scratches on it, but that was all. I broke my leg about 12 years ago (I was already paralyzed),, so I know that the next morning is when I can know that I have broken something. (That time, I woke up feeling really really sick  and my leg was swollen,, both  easily interpreted clues that something was wrong.) Anyway, the next day and subsequent days after being hit by the car, nothing seemed to be wrong. When the student got out of her car, after hitting me, she was crying. I was still angry, but I also felt sorry for her. I got her name and phone number, and promised to call her even if everything was fine. When I did that, she told me she had cried all the way home. I guess she hadn't hit somebody in a wheelchair before! It was a first for me too.

102318b

no Great Pumpkin
but the lesser pumpkins rise
sailing toward the moon
higher and higher
exploding when atmospheric pressure
gets too low

102318

the bird feeder
stood empty for months
visited at last

102218d

Rules for Exploring Planets


1. Don't expect to recognize the dominant life form..
2. The most common forms in terrestrial cities, after all, are rats and cockroaches.
3. On some planets, the dominant species is aquatic, and doesn't use tools.
4. On gas giants, 10 or 15 unrelated species may rule in different places.
5.making a mistake about this has extinguished dozens of colonies.
6.It's probably best to just stay home.

102218c

arthropod cities
fill caverns
first men in the moon

102218b

The latest Star*line: http://sfpoetry.com/sl/issues/starline41.4.html -- A collaboration between me and Ann K. Schwader is an editor's choice. We had a great time writing this one.

102218

nobody believes in the zombie apocalypse anymore
they've moved on to the mummy apocalypse
(fight rags with fire)
the werewolf apocalypse
(stake out a goat every full moon)
and the shoggoth apocalypse
(if the Great Race couldn't stop them, what hope have we?
we're all gonna die)