In Noir Shadows by Bruce Boston and David E. Cowen

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Narrated by David E. Cowen

In Noir Shadows by Bruce Boston and David E. Cowen
illustration by Sue Babcock
Image of a dim hallway,
a tunnel to the forbidden,
silent but for footfalls, 
the creak of old wood,

until the repeating echo 
of steps becomes a wave 
that sounds in the long 
seamless dark before you,

until pale hands reach,
and a white face dances 
in front of your vision,
an eidolon with shadow

eyes, nose, and mouth,
wide smile of a harlot,
a revenant incarnation 
of your darkest fears,

as your torch flickers
and the final light dies
in noir shadows where
strange hungers stalk.

Bio: Bruce Boston is the author of more than fifty books and chapbooks. His writing has received the Bram Stoker Award, the Asimov’s Readers Award, a Pushcart Prize and the Rhysling and Grandmaster Awards of the SFPA. His latest collection, Visions of the Mutant Rain Forest, a collaboration with Robert Frazier, is available from Amazon and other online booksellers. www.bruceboston.com

Bio: David E. Cowen lives in Houston, Texas. He is the author of The Madness of Empty Spaces (Weasel 2014), The Seven Yards of Sorrow (Weasel 2016) and Sixth and Adams (PWP 2001)