Angelic II

Here's a poem about angels.

When I was putting this book together, I found the earlier poem, Angelic. I'd forgotten I wrote that one. I was amused by how similar these two were. So here is another poem about that same thing written four years apart. Yeah, I see the previous picture bled through...enjoy!

[BLAYAC: Wow, I didn't contribute much to this one at all. I suppose I didn't add much here due to the fact that I knew the previous drawing of the angel and the badman would come before it. Still, that's no excuse for lackluster work as this picture so obviously is. I was afraid to add too much art to Joe's poems at times because I didn't want to accidently cover up a word or distract the reader from his prose. Which, ironically, is what I did with a couple of his poems on his next book. Joe was gracious about it, though, and told me that it would just make the reader have to concentrate more on his writing as he's reading it.]

The Angel and the Badman

Here's a great picture from Blayac. It goes with the next poem that will appear here. I don't remember if he drew this one specifically for the poem or I just thought it fit. Maybe he can clear that up!

[BLAYAC: God, you're asking me to remember something that happened over a decade ago (has it really been that long? Ah, time is like the grains in an hour glass...). You know, I don't even remember drawing this picture, I really don't. When I saw it posted on here it was like seeing it for the first time. And since I'm so detached from it I can say with all honesty that I like it. I have no clue as to what it's about, but I think I captured Joe's wild imagination pretty well here.]

Blind Angels

JOE: Here are two poems with no unicorns or mermaids! I for one am breathing a sigh of relief! I don't think I could've taken that much longer!

One of the poems is about angels. I write about angels and demons quite a bit. These poems are just there. They're not very good...they're not very bad...they just sit on the page.

This page it illustrated by Blayac. The drawings are ok. I'm not quite sure where the face is from.

[BLAYAC: You know, I have no idea why I drew the face. You think I would have at least made it blind. Of course, sometimes its hard to figure out exactly how to illustrate some of Joe's poems, they can, on occasion, defy all attempts at description. I must agree that this is rather lackluster work on my part, but when you're illustrating the lion's share of a book as well as juggling a hundred other responsibilities (like working on two films, Laugh A Little and Blood Pudding, drawing your own comic book, etc.) your work may suffer in other areas. I'm not using that as an excuse, mind you, I know I have better material in this poem book waiting to see the light of day. At least, as good as an eighteen year old still learning his craft could produce at the time.]

Mermaid

This one made me cringe when I read it again. I was brand new at writing poetry seriously when I wrote this. I think I was just trying to see how many fantasy creatures I could fit into a poem. I did grow out of this fantasy creature phase...I heard you say, "Thank God!"

The art is once again by Darren Parsons. It's just more mediocre work from him.

Enjoy the pain!