I've once again managed to procrastinate my way to writing a chapbook of poems, when I should have been finishing my interactive novel (which is now over 900,000 words long but probably still requires at least another 100,000).

This one's Fantasy, Mythology, Larceny: A Poetry Chapbook.



It includes high fantasy poems such as this rondine:

The Last Mage

She walks the wastes her spells have made,
She won the war of wizardry,
The plains of ash, her victory,
Her staff was deadlier than blade,
This broken world, the price she paid,
"There must be others, not just me..."
She walks the wastes.

She hears a footstep, "As I prayed!"
She whirls around in ecstasy,
But zombies lurch, life's mockery,
Her fireball blazes; hope decayed,
She walks the wastes.

And there are mythic retellings, including this one about Asteropaeus:

The Forgotten Throw

He wanders Hades' wretched roads,
Among the bands of soldiers slain
Defending many-towered Troy,
And yearns for praise from martial men;
They cheer for other gloried ghosts,
For Hector's final Scaean stand,
And even laud that Paris prick:
"A splendid arrow!" wankers wail.

He barges through and shakes his head,
"A coward's shot, Apollo's aid,
Unworthy prince receives renown,
And better fighters walk without!
Remember this?" He seizes spears,
And hurls a pair with fearsome force,
"My awesome ambidextrousness!"
A couple glance, the rest remain
In sycophantic Paris-praise.

He sighs and trudges all alone
To River Lethe's barren bank;
"Remembering's a thankless thing,
If others don't, then glory's gone,
And every memory's misery..."
He kneels to drink surrender's sip.

A mighty grasp, a hero's hand
Pulls Asteropaeus away;
"No drinking that; let fools forget,
Or cowards moaning dreadful deaths;
You wounded me, your spear brought blood,
That double-handed, cunning cast!"
Achilles sits and, glugging grog,
The heroes speak of martial might
Amid the slosh of clinking cups.

As per the "Larceny" in the title, several of the poems feature thieves and rogues.

The book's available at various online stores:

https://books2read.com/FantasyMythologyLarceny

You can also order the paperback edition via your local bookshop (ISBN 9798215710692).