Darkness Marks

By: Gus Victoria

Darkness falls on the misty plain,

Shades of the forgotten fane

That saw blood spilt

In his blasphemous name

Glide on tortured air

To tempt the brave soul

Bent in earnest prayer,

None they seek they spare,

Cast off the armour of light,

Faded with blackest sin,

Abandon the shield of faith,

Tortured and worn thin,

The Wight approaches

And Doom encroaches,

Fiends and their minions

Enslave much stronger dominions,

You seek shelter you forsook,

Long ago the sword you took

And the flock scattered

Without your shepard’s hook.

To destroy the wolf

You lost the sheep.

And now you must pay

With more than tears you weep.

The cold skeletal hand

Does grasp, burn and brand

Steel cuts only empty space,

You must now take your place,

Moonlight bears witness

To your last moments.

Death claims his harvest,

And the darkness now recedes...

CFB Top 30 Picks Challenge - Week 2

Last week was not particularly kind to the Sasquatch. Hopefully, this week I'll reclaim a bit of respectability (unlikely).  Week 1 raised a lot more questions than it answered. Good luck! Results from Week 1 and The Sasquatch's picks will post short.

There is still time to claim the crown. 

The Sasquatch's CFB "Top 30" Picks - Week 1

Here are the fearless predictions of the Sasquatch for Week 1 (highlighted in green). I'm going to need something strong to help me wash out the taste of chalk.

• # 1 Florida State (0-0) vs Oklahoma State (0-0)
• # 2 Alabama (0-0) vs West Virginia (0-0)
• #3 Oregon (0-0) vs South Dakota (0-0)
• #4 Oklahoma (0-0) vs Louisiana Tech (0-)
• #5 Ohio State (0-0) vs Navy (0-0)
• #6 Auburn (0-0) vs Arkansas (0-0)
• #7 UCLA (0-0) vs Virginia (0-0)
• #8 Michigan State (0-0) vs Jacksonville State (0-0)
• #9 South Carolina (0-0) vs #21 Texas A&M (0-0)
• #10 Baylor (0-0) vs SMU (0-0)
• #11 Stanford (0-0) vs UC Davis (0-0)
• #12 Georgia (0-0) vs #16 Clemson (0-0)
• #13 LSU (0-0) vs #14 Wisconsin (0-0)
• #15 USC (0-0) vs Fresno State (0-0)
• #17 Notre Dame (0-0) vs Rice (0-0)
• #18 Ole Miss (0-0) vs Boise State (0-0)
• #19 Arizona State (0-0) vs Weber State (0-0)
• #20 Kansas State (0-0) vs SF Austin (0-0)
• #22 Nebraska (0-0) vs Florida Atlantic (0-0)
• #23 North Carolina (0-0) vs Liberty (0-0)
• #24 Missouri (0-0) vs South Dakota (0-0)
• #25 Washington (0-0) vs Hawaii (0-0)
• (#26) UCF (0-0) vs Penn State (0-0)
• (#27) Florida (0-0) vs Idaho (0-0)
• (#28) Texas (0-0) vs North Texas (0-0)
• (#29) Duke (0-0) vs Elon (0-0)
• (#30) Iowa (0-0) vs Northern Iowa (0-0)
• BONUS: Michigan (0-0) vs Appalachian State (0-0)

Coach Heisman is unimpressed.

CFB Top 30 Picks Challenge - Week 1

Walter Camp believes in you...

The college football season is upon us! Get your picks in for Week 1. I'll be posting the Sasquatch's picks shortly and on Monday the results. Good luck!

Update!

The Sasquatch's Week 1 Picks (so much chalk...)

Poetry is a Kiss

By : Gus Victoria

The Kiss (Lovers) - Gustav Klimt 1908-1909

Poetry is a kiss,

Eloquence is a glance

Hidden behind the veil,

Betrayed by a dance.

My body is yours,

Model of imperfection,

Not by your word,

But my own fatal perception.

Let my touch

Arouse your desire,

Passion untold,

Unquenchable fire.

Tonight unforgettable

We may, in arms embraced,

Dream together,

Of another place.

Before we journey,

Let me know

You fully,

Never let go

Our story written,

Remembered hereafter.

Each kiss a poem,

Each night a chapter.

At the Bottom of the Bottle

By: Gus Victoria

At the bottom of the bottle I chased the void,

It consumed me before the first drink,

Emptiness without reason,

A sip and another,

I slipped and didn’t even bother,

The nectar was relief,

For the mind stumbled

The heart grumbled

And friends stood in disbelief;

“Who is this Libertine?

That in knowledge walks,

And dances so debauched?”

My soul then I bared

There with the glass held,

“I am the poet,

That finds the words

To show how odd the worlds

We straddle are to our souls;

I am the artist

That paints reflections

Beyond the facade.

To the interior,

Bitter melancholy of unlived potential,

A drought we all drink

As in depression we sink.”

Freedom is found in the naked acts

That others blush at

The joy of sensual pleasure

When in respectful agreement

Is enjoyed measure for measure.

At the bottom of this bottle before the void

I find the courage to explore...

The Clown Cried

By : Gus Victoria

The verse was one delivered by a master,

Improvised truth practiced to perfection

On a stage made home

That was never so,

He knew love and admiration,

He knew struggle and derision,

Dark shadows played

Wherever light was,

He was a clown

The world adored,

He lived and gave,

He struggled and he paid,

Ever the gentle soul,

We’d never know

The sadness within

That consumed,

That devoured

The noble man.

One day the sun rose

To never set,

The Clown cried,

But the laughter,

The joy, the memories,

They never died,

And we would never forget.

Diana

By: Gus Victoria

An overconfident man,

Through this dense growth of weedy lies

And ever so sweet fragrant flatteries

Blazes his path,

Like rain drops on oilcloth,

Words slough off,

He ventures on,

Seeking the next discovery,

Ink he draws with his pen

As others blood with blade,

Movement on the page

Gathers as a storm

The meaning he intends,

Sorcery to the uninitiated

Is art in his skilled hand,

Fated to wither as it blooms,

For the master upon the virgin mistress

One day in thoughtless joy intrudes,

His heart in an instant burns with desire

For the goddess of his passion,

Her stare, empty and cool

Causes his senses to flee

And the poet struck becomes the fool,

Orpheus in an moment turns to Actaeon,

She, Diana that sends him away.

No Marker, No Grave

By: Gus Victoria

The myriad thoughts of the mind are freed

And in chaotic order dance anew,

A moment of weakness

Fulfills a lifetime of strength,

No temple to shame,

No doctrine to defile,

No blame to seek,

Guilt is a garment unworn,

To the fire consigned,

Justice is the new badge,

Dogma no more;

Words in the wind

From the granite slabs

Ground to dust,

Dry corpse by the vulture devoured,

No marker,

No grave,

Faith lives on,

Religion is forever dead.

Strangers Walking Away

By: Gus Victoria

Holding on to the ember,

Fire left its scar,

Soon only ash,

Consuming hope,

There was little left,

Faith withered long ago,

Only habits lingered,

Passion ran once,

A mighty river it carried them,

Empty dust about

Strands them,

Each walks in a different direction,

To seek what might revive

What could not be lost,

Each remembers a vision

That changes with time.

She was dark when he was light,

She was day when he was night,

Alternating in their own way,

One and the other,

Friends and lovers.

Strangers walking away,

Soulmate

By: Gus Victoria

Soul mates,

Once I believed.

Fate intervening

Destiny fulfilling

Soul mate

I thought I knew.

Poisoned memories

With dark tendrils

Choke like ivy

New growth.

Soul mate,

Passionate concept,

Sterile reality,

Coal without luster,

Ash in the wind.

A Hundred Years

By: Gus Victoria

The voices call out to me…

Soft on the hill they call,

Where they bled once

Now grow flowers,

The homes they knew,

Some stand still,

More were rubble long ago,

Their shades are the shadows cast

From that Great War

That ended naught,

The promise of youth

By Empire scythed,

The brotherhood of mankind

By generals silenced,

There was Hope in ‘14,

Only the Reaper

Four long years later.

There was innocence in ‘14,

Only cynicism

One century later.

The world poured in idyllic times

Was tempered at the forge of hell

Before, in blood bathed, it emerged,

Changed,

Unknown,

Broken.

Kicking the Cage

By: Gus Victoria

Hostage to your ignorance,

We kick the cage

In righteous rage!

Oppressive oligarchy,

We kick the cage

In righteous rage!

Elected leaders

By your vote

Hold you back.

Elected leaders

Fuck you ten times

Before you fight back.

We kick the cage

In righteous rage!

There is blood you drew

By inaction spilt,

Innocence shattered,

Ammo gathered,

Guns gathered

By a diseased mind

A murderous trigger pulled,

We kick the cage

In righteous rage!

On the pile of bones

From children gathered

You demanded as price

To ignore responsibility

You rejoice in death,

You call it a right

You spew hate,

Fuck your ignorance,

Your Reagan too,

The second Amendment

The murder weapon

Of the nation

You fight for

As all your leaders

Fuck your corpse.

Few survivors…

Kick the cage

In righteous rage!