The July Editor's Pick Poet is

Dennis Bagwell

Please feel free to email Dennis at: firedennis@aol.com

ALIEN IN AN ALLEY

I saw an alien in an alley yesterday
He glared at me with sullen eyes
He didn’t know that I knew he was an alien
Because they look just like us
But he was one
He took a swig from his bottle of cheap wine
To drown out the fact that he will never be able to return to his home planet
And to dull his memories of his little alien house
And his little alien wife and kids
I didn’t let on that I knew he was an alien
Because he might have killed me then and there
He just turned and stumbled away in his drunken stupor
And cursed me in his native tongue, and I understood him
I feel sorry for him
But he knew the job was dangerous when he volunteered for it
And that’s what he gets for coming to my planet and trying to destroy us

YOU WON'T BE LAUGHING WHEN YOU'RE RUNNING FOR YOUR LIFE

You laugh at me
You mock me
You humor me
You scoff at me when I mention a zombie apocalypse
But you won’t be laughing when you’re running for your life
You won’t be mocking me when zombies are eating your wife
You are only humoring your self by being unprepared
You won’t scoff when the undead are trying to break down your front door to get to your children
You won’t be laughing when you take stock of everything you lost today and realize that there is no God
Will you still be laughing when you realize I was right all along?

HORRORSCOPE FOR FRIDAY THE 13th

Don’t go outside today. Call in sick. Cancer is in Uranus. There is a full moon tonight, meaning werewolves will be on the prowl. Vampires will be lurking in every dark alley at sunset. Mars is in your 7th house of ill repute. This means you may be abducted by aliens if you’re not already. Simplify your plans and channel your energies into making your home into a fortress against the lumbering horde of zombies outside your door. You are unlucky in love, but since you have no prospects of expanding your social horizons anyway, you have nothing left to lose. Bury your emotions. There isn't any time to waste on looking back in regret or wallowing in discouragement. There's work to do if you want to see another sun rise. You might as well resign yourself to processing your fears instead of avoiding them, because you can't escape easily. The stress factor is amplified because your instincts tell you to run while the situation holds your feet to the fire. If today is your birthday, tell your loved ones good bye and kill your self. If you live through the night, think about planting a garden tomorrow. Today your unlucky numbers today are 13 and 6-6-6.

THE MONEY MAN

Traffic is stopped
Police lights up ahead
Creep by slowly and crane your neck to see
Sheet covered bodies on the side of the road
Death has visited our little town today
And the ambulance company, the tow truck, the hospital, the newspaper and the morgue will all make money

Dennis is a politically incorrect, mad at the world, X Generation, heathen, musician, and writer from Orange County California. Dennis moved to North Georgia in 2007 and is quietly preparing for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. He has been writing in one form or another since high school. His warped rantings and observations about the cesspool of a world we are surviving in keeps his spiraling descent into madness at bay.

Dennis has had his poetry published by the League of American Poets, the American Poets Society, The Horrorzine, 63Channels, Black Petals, Death Head Grin, Word Salad Poetry Magazine and Tree Killer Ink. He has released two spoken-word CDs, A Random Litter of Thought (2006) and Paid in Full (2007) on Batteryface Records. A short film of Dennis’ poem Hollywood was made available to coincide with the release of Paid in Full.

Visit Dennis at www.dennisbagwell.weebly.com