Potential Titles: Duane Ackerson

[somethingdarker]

They raised an altar of abandoned tires - Duane Ackerson "At the Dump"

Driven off by the smell of licorice gone bad - Duane Ackerson "At the Dump"

Rising on phoenix limbs from black smoke - Duane Ackerson "At the Dump"

Flames growing into chrome strips - Duane Ackerson "At the Dump"

Which is guaranteed not to germinate - Duane Ackerson "Bird Seed"

The seeds immediately sprout acres of jays - Duane Ackerson "Bird Seed"

In some cannibalistic parent and child reunion - Duane Ackerson "Bird Seed"

Before they themselves are swallowed by the sky - Duane Ackerson "Bird Seed"

Whether you wish to find or avoid them - Duane Ackerson "Black Hole Hunter's Guide"

The most complete and accurate source of information - Duane Ackerson "Black Hole Hunter's Guide"

Always keeping in mind the distinction between mushroom and toadstools - Duane Ackerson "Black Hole Hunter's Guide"

Ignorance can result in one of them devouring you - Duane Ackerson "Black Hole Hunter's Guide"

A constant source of intellectual nourishment - Duane Ackerson "Black Hole Hunter's Guide"

Weaving light and electromagnetic chatter - Duane Ackerson "Black Hole Hunter's Guide"

An eye that opens on another world - Duane Ackerson "The Blind Man"

His fingers catch glimpse of other lives - Duane Ackerson "The Blind Man"

Scenes reflected in soap bubbles - Duane Ackerson "The Blind Man"

Shedding rainbows in his wake - Duane Ackerson "The Blind Man"

Seeing the world through donated eyes - Duane Ackerson "The Blind Man"

And the dream sensor starts the dream deactivator - Duane Ackerson "The Dream Factory: Two Tours"

Equivalent in effect to two cups of coffee - Duane Ackerson "The Dream Factory: Two Tours"

The dream of your choice will be returned to you - Duane Ackerson "The Dream Factory: Two Tours"

To insure that the output is defective - Duane Ackerson "The Dream Factory: Two Tours"

This division's products are almost always recalled - Duane Ackerson "The Dream Factory: Two Tours"

The treasure trove she raided while we dreamed - Duane Ackerson "Driving Across Idaho"

First, we sent away the trees - Duane Ackerson "Exiling the Earth"

The bubble of breath they had long exhaled - Duane Ackerson "Exiling the Earth"

None could afford even these surrogates for life - Duane Ackerson "Exiling the Earth"

Became greater and greater strangers to themselves - Duane Ackerson "Exiling the Earth"

Were barely memories of themselves - Duane Ackerson "Exiling the Earth"

Reciting lists of all the varieties of bush and bird - Duane Ackerson "Exiling the Earth"

That withers quickly back into dark water - Duane Ackerson "A Ghost Story"

Holding the deceased one's name in memory forever - Duane Ackerson "A Ghost Story"

Facing forward instead of backwards - Duane Ackerson "A Ghost Story"

Just one little moon among many - Duane Ackerson "Giving Back the Moon"

The one that shines for lunatics, lovers, and poets - Duane Ackerson "Giving Back the Moon"

An anachronism about to be remaindered - Duane Ackerson "Giving Back the Moon"

Foxfire designed to lead us deeper into the swamp - Duane Ackerson "Giving Back the Moon"

The wrong words followed by the wrong deeds - Duane Ackerson "Giving Back the Moon"

Fails to give the gnomes sufficient credit - Duane Ackerson "The Great Gnome Escape"

Imprisoned in the crowded quarters of front yards - Duane Ackerson "The Great Gnome Escape"

Guarded indifferently by deer, ducks, and flamingoes - Duane Ackerson "The Great Gnome Escape"

Before the paperboys can deliver the day wrapped in plastic - Duane Ackerson "The Great Gnome Escape"

Entering the computer through the keyboard - Duane Ackerson "Infinite Zero"

Experience the ultimate in zero gravity - Duane Ackerson "Infinite Zero"

Drifting down through the dissolving parachutes - Duane Ackerson "Infinite Zero"

Those bottomless zeros are calling us - Duane Ackerson "Infinite Zero"

Think of adventurers chasing nothing - Duane Ackerson "Infinite Zero"

Lure them deeper and deeper into a quest for Nirvana - Duane Ackerson "Infinite Zero"

Try to outbid the rustling of the hard drive - Duane Ackerson "Infinite Zero"

Usurped his life at a moment's notice - Duane Ackerson "The Killer's Suicide Note"

Any glimmer of hope carried off - Duane Ackerson "The Killer's Suicide Note"

The click of a lighter that sparks but doesn't fire - Duane Ackerson "Little Ghosts"

Hitch-hike on the tailpipe of a car - Duane Ackerson "Little Ghosts"

The size of ghosts is not proportional - Duane Ackerson "Little Ghosts"

Some ants drag around spirits the size of houses - Duane Ackerson "Little Ghosts"

One specter rises from the campfire - Duane Ackerson "Little Ghosts"

Since energy is never lost, only converted - Duane Ackerson "Little Ghosts"

Enlarged to the size of her spirit - Duane Ackerson "Little Ghosts"

Afraid to shake loose any stars still lodged inside - Duana Ackerson "The Observatory"

Rearrange captured constellations in the wrong patterns - Duana Ackerson "The Observatory"

Climb the dark tunnel of the chimney - Duana Ackerson "The Observatory"

Spill blood transported from across the world - Duane Ackerson "Operation Macbeth"

Someone has voted their proxies - Duane Ackerson "Operation Macbeth"

A red rose just before it's dipped in liquid nitrogen - Duane Ackerson "Operation Macbeth"

Absolute zero is stirring in the President's head - Duane Ackerson "Operation Macbeth"

While someone tolls a bell in a drowned cathedral - Duane Ackerson "Operation Macbeth"

Listen for a green word from the redwoods - Duane Ackerson "Operation Macbeth"

Something crimson is in the wind - Duane Ackerson "Operation Macbeth"

The planet's blood is on our hands - Duane Ackerson "Operation Macbeth"

Not enough clean water left to wash it off - Duane Ackerson "Operation Macbeth"

Enable me to eavesdrop on your critique - Duane Ackerson "The Painting Speaks"

Always true to the Platonic ideal he dreams of - Duane Ackerson "The Painting Speaks"

Help the imagination to also take flight - Duane Ackerson "The Painting Speaks"

To combine the functions of creator and critic - Duane Ackerson "The Painting Speaks"

The changes begin to fill the corners of your eyes - Duane Ackerson "The Painting Speaks"

An ocean of green legumes joining hands - Duane Ackerson "Picturing World Peace on Earth Day"

Three minutes of electromagnetic flux - Duane Ackerson "Picturing World Peace on Earth Day"

Now I'm ready to start seeing the world - Duane Ackerson "Picturing World Peace on Earth Day"

Turning on its slightly askew axis - Duane Ackerson "Picturing World Peace on Earth Day"

Unified mix of greenery, gravity, and water - Duane Ackerson "Picturing World Peace on Earth Day"

Clinging to a stone in space - Duane Ackerson "Picturing World Peace on Earth Day"

Wanted to abduct nothing more valuable than our dreams - Duane Ackerson "Porch Lights"

To keep the garden free of insects and apparitions - Duane Ackerson "Poultry"

Someone scattering seeds of light that will blossom into faces - Duane Ackerson "Poultry"

A subway tunnel through the turnips - Duane Ackerson "Poultry"

A buried light cutting its path through ink - Duane Ackerson "Poultry"

Its ruby, a searchlight in the center of its head - Duane Ackerson "Poultry"

The dreambike had eyes on its spokes - Duane Ackerson " Proof of Existence"

To alert me to approaching meteorites and mad dogs - Duane Ackerson " Proof of Existence"

A hawk that took possession of this electric creature - Duane Ackerson "Raven Rules"

And drained it of its phosphorescent juice - Duane Ackerson "Raven Rules"

Taking back the moon for the lunatics - Duane Ackerson "Taking Back the Moon"

Real estate agents may notice a gap in the night - Duane Ackerson "Taking Back the Moon"

Triangulate its distance from Earth - Duane Ackerson "Taking Back the Moon"

Wrapped in a notebook leaking light - Duane Ackerson "Taking Back the Moon"

Attempt an additional step after reaching the top - Duane Ackerson "Three Urban Legends"

Attacked by particularly territorial and predatory flocks of clouds - Duane Ackerson "Three Urban Legends"

Mysteriously enlisted in a V formation of Canadian geese - Duane Ackerson "Three Urban Legends"

Stranded in the Caribbean without a passport - Duane Ackerson "Three Urban Legends"

Here's the exit for those who came in by mistake - Duane Ackerson "Three Urban Legends"

Emerges from sleep in the mirror - Duane Ackerson "Three Urban Legends"

Embrace who they used to be - Duane Ackerson "Three Urban Legends"

Though a few show some flicker of life - Duane Ackerson "Trawling for Trolls"

Gnashing their teeth till the ropes are frayed - Duane Ackerson "Trawling for Trolls"

Whatever it is that possesses them - Duane Ackerson "Trawling for Trolls"

Pulled from their moorings by the moon - Duane Ackerson "Trawling for Trolls"

Before they can tempt any passerby into rescuing them - Duane Ackerson "Trawling for Trolls"

Maybe they have merely taken unreasonable risks - Duane Ackerson "Trawling for Trolls"

Wading out to sea to lure lifeguards - Duane Ackerson "Trawling for Trolls"

In the midst of pretending to drown - Duane Ackerson "Trawling for Trolls"

Replacing the usual mermaids or sea serpent - Duane Ackerson "Trawling for Trolls"

Salute us back with empty kitchen pans - Duane Ackerson "Trawling for Trolls"

Layer after folded layer, an endless origami - Duane Ackerson "The Vampire's Reflection"

Have begun to usurp his identity - Duane Ackerson "The Vampire's Reflection"

That struggles to be born inside the mirror - Duane Ackerson "The Vampire's Reflection"

Come into focus in his daydreams - Duane Ackerson "The Vampire's Reflection"

Wakes to the moon's glassy stare - Duane Ackerson "The Vampire's Reflection"

The rocking horse dreams of riding the carousel - Duane Ackerson "Various Horses"

You could look to the moon for advice - Duane Ackerson "Various Horses"

Its crystal ball, buoyed by all the vacuum - Duane Ackerson "Various Horses"

Riding the waves without comment - Duane Ackerson "Various Horses"

Told us this war would never end - Duane Ackerson "The War on Terror"

So we signed up for the duration - Duane Ackerson "The War on Terror"

This would provide armor against the tedium - Duane Ackerson "The War on Terror"

How to Win Enemies & Alienate People - Duane Ackerson "The War on Terror"

Taught recombinant DNA to recombine - Duane Ackerson "What If"

Birds that freed themselves from the cages of our bodies - Duane Ackerson "What If"

Misery flying out the window - Duane Ackerson "What If"

A flock of blackbirds that only comes back later - Duane Ackerson "What If"

Begging for a few more scraps of us - Duane Ackerson "What If"

Owls to sing their own dark songs - Duane Ackerson "What If"

Almost muffled by the earth in their mouths - Duane Ackerson "What If"


Snippets cowritten by Duane and Cathy Ackerson.


Poet's bio at Strange Horizons.


Navigation Links:
Go to A author index.
Go to author indices.
Go to word indices.
Go to category indices.