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Dale Estey

I owe my life to Hitler, though I never met the man. My father was paid to stop Hitler, so there is no conflict of interest. I was given a thunk on the back o' the head by God when I was fifteen, and within a week began to write. I haven't stopped. My first novel was accepted 'over the transom'. My first editor/author luncheon in New York included a naked man with roller skates at the next table. For the sake of research I have lain on Kafka's grave, but I did not weep. I wish upon my own gravestone the phrase "Thank God He Didn't Die A Virgin". There is truth in every truth - so watch out. My published novels include the popular fantasy A Lost Tale and the thriller The Bonner Deception. I also have two editions of humorous and spiritual short stories, The Elephant Talks to God, which are appreciated by both young and old. My manuscripts range from stories about unicorns and druids in the 'Passing Through Trilogy' to the 9/11 destruction of New York. I have filled in the missing diaries of Franz Kafka; recounted the first person dementia of a serial killer; explored the outrageous lifestyle of the famous; and listened in while an elephant and God converse. I currently switch my attention between the saga of a family of onion farmers, from Fourth century Italy to the present day, and a contemporary NATO thriller. I live in Canada and make Nova Scotia my home. I prefer to travel by train, but embrace the computer age with passion. I am always on the hunt for unique onion recipes.

Remembrance Day In Canada With The Jervis Bay

The major Remembrance Day Service is held in a hockey arena. Which I don’t like. So we found – in walking distance – a service at a small naval memorial/park with a Cenotaph. The park was in honour of the naval ship, The Jervis Bay.

HMS Jervis Bay

83rd Anniversary Nov.5 1940-2023

http://www.hmsjervisbay.com/.

I’ll stab at 400 – 500 folk there. Cars parked as far as ten minutes away. Raggle-taggle group of cadets. Trumpet player who had no trouble with the high notes.

Two good ole boys near us who looked as if they had been hauled from a brawl at the local tavern – but they had their poppies.

Sweet li’l kidlets.

MC who made old, old jokes and had to be corrected a few times about the Order of Service. And had to ask if anyone was present who might lay the wreath of the government or city or …
He chuckled over the one guy who volunteered a number of times: “We’re puttin’ ya to work today.”
A train whistle in the distance that gave a loooong blast for 11:00 (though it was a couple of minutes out of sync).


And TOTAL silence for the two minutes of silence.

Then home we went to watch the Service from Ottawa, with the Governor General, Prime Minister, Silver Cross Mother, Military Pipes & Drums, marching Military Contingent, and interviews with two sharp-as-tacks Veterans in their late nineties.
Best of both worlds.

DE

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Our Good And Gracious Queen

Our good and gracious Queen was on the #7 bus tonight.
At least, it was the spitting image of HM. Charles III himself would have given her a second look.
She was well dressed and well coiffed.
Her only unusual feature was her scowl. Nary one look of good cheer did she exhibit the whole of the ride.
Perhaps, that is because she was carrying (as best she could) a three-step foot stool, encased in plastic, and a five foot curtain rod, also encased in plastic.
And, I guessed, there was no maid nor footman awaiting her at home to help with her chore.

DE

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Gunpowder, Treason and Plot, & A Cat In A Lighthouse

Paw,My cat/kitten

Black as gunpowder

With one white mitten,

Is having the time
Of his

Life.
We are in the Lighthouse,

On this Guy Fawkes Night,

Searching down the gunpowder

The dastardly villain

Has planted.
This has been part,
Of my traditions

For years.

Straight from

My Father.
“Remember Remember The Fifth of November.”

And though I tell Paw,

The cat/kitten,

To run wild

And

Search everywhere,

In truth,

He doesn’t want to

Stray too far

From my side,

Which is fine.

For,

In truth,

The Lighthouse is

A strange

And peculiar

Place.

So he stays near

To the glow of my

Lantern,

As I go through

My ritual.


We are both pleased.


And,

Will both

Have a

Fine Fish Feast,

When Guy Fawkes is

(As he inevitably is)

Brought low.

I’m The Lighthouse Poet Laureate of Partridge Island /1821 – 2021 / A lot of stuff have I seen / A lot of stuff to report

DE BA. UEL

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Halloween Turns Mean On All Hallows

I knew this was going to happen.
I know the old ways,
From the old Days.
Halloween, All Hallows,

The Ghosts and Witches and maybe

Demons 
Take offence when 
They are thwarted.
This All Hallows
They are thwarted by the
Full of the moon,
Which starts to fade before
Their night of freedom.
They want the light to see
The damnable deviltry
They let loose, 
Upon the Living and the Dead.
Paw, my cat/kitten
Black as sin
With one white mitten.
Knows it also.
He refuses to accompany me
On my last tending of the Lighthouse light.
So I asked Sister Darling,
Of The Rarified Church of the World (reformed)
To accompany me.
It is the very reason 
I have implored her,
To visit me on Partridge Island
This usurped night of Samhain.
As well she knows, since she has
Given me warnings in words,
The way Paw has in deeds,
To tend to these eldrich going-ons
Brought in by the ocean tides.
We are quick to my business
And hear the rustle of the curtain
Between this life and the next,

Every time the Lighthouse light
Blinks off.

{I’m The Lighthouse Poet Laureate of Partridge Island /1821 – 2023 / A lot of stuff have I seen / A lot of stuff to report}

DE BA. UEL

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One Flew Over The Crow Tree

For years and years a massive Murder of Crows used to fly over my house on their way to their nightly roost. They would fly across the harbour, and head for a copse of trees at a university a few miles away. They would often (or some of them) alight in a huge tree two houses down the street. There could be two hundred, and they would fill the tree, cawing and rustling and flying around. Then, in twenty minutes or so, they would be on their way.

Alas, the university cut down that copse of trees for the construction of some buildings. The crows no longer make their journey. I do not know where they now roost.

However, one recent morning, I saw a crow at The Crow Tree. 

It hovered and hovered and hovered and hovered over The Crow Tree. I rarely ever see crows hover. Then it grabbed right on to the tallest piece of a branch (already denuded of leaves) and held on.

It swayed and swayed and swayed back and forth in the wind, sometimes using its wings for balance. It stayed so long that I was able to get my binoculars to watch (and totally confirm it was a crow). It was.

The crow put me in mind of a cowboy attempting to stay on the back of a bucking horse. Whoo-heee!! I imagined it saying. 

All told, it clung to the branch for a minute. Then it let go, flew up, and away.

I had not seen a crow on The Crow Tree for over a year. There are still local crows, in twos and tens, on the ground and in the trees. But not the massive flock that would (I assume) take a wee rest during their evening passage. I do miss their passage from east to west, spooky though it was.

DE

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#PitDark Horror Tales In Time For Halloween

“Darkroom” is made for #PitDark. Norman does not like people who offend him. Norman is easily offended. Norman’s solution is to become a serial killer. He is excellent at his task. Time after time after time.

*************

#PitDark They seek him here. They seek him there. They seek Satan everywhere. And they find him, time and time again. And do what they can to stop him in “There Has Been A Sighting” They have some success

*************

A Time awaits a world destined for punishment since man first walked upright. A decision must be made to remove all life. Who makes this judgment? In “The Fifth Corner Of The Earth” the decision is reached by five people fated to do so through their heredity. #PitDark

*************

Don’t let Satan deceive.Evil is everywhere.Weight of years isn’t necessary for the work of Satan, but Time deepens his imprint. My characters travel the world, attempting to erase the impact of Satan. In “Places of Evil”sometimes they succeed.#PitDark

*************

During bad times, Satan offers twisted salvation. When the offerings stop being subtle, no place is safe.”There Has Been A Sighting” keeps the supernatural one step ahead of the natural. What my human characters find is horrific. What they achieve is stunning #PitDark

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PROTECT Your Computer (said the email)

Ya know what – I didn’t do it.

Mainly because it was sent to me by faq <plwdvzxfjyvzuicwbjmjqvjnsgquyqnjx@galls.com

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A Snake In The Grass Is Worth Two In The Bush

Paw
My cat/kitten,
Black as Spades
With one white mitten,
Stopped dead in his tracks
And stared.
He could have been a statue.
So, I walked carefully
To stand beside him,
And also stared.
In the grass,
Perhaps a foot away,
Was a thin, long and
Young-looking snake.
It was stretched out,
In curves,
With its head erect,
And motionless.
Much like Paw.
There are not many snakes
On Partridge Island, and I have seen
Much bigger.
But, still,
It was a snake.
Paw was curious,
Cautious,
And scared.
I was careful.
Old Nick
Chose well

To use a snake,

To bring down
Humankind.
I guess we three
Waited five full minutes
With none of us moving.
So, I scooped up Paw
(He made no complaint),
And retreated the way
We had come.
I know the snake felt
Every step we trod.

{I’m The Lighthouse Poet Laureate of Partridge Island /1821 – 2023 / A lot of stuff have I seen / A lot of stuff to report}

DE BA. UEL

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20 September 1917 – Kafka Has A Dream of Dreams

In Kafka In The Castle, I fill in the ‘missing’ diary entries from Kafka’s real diary. He either did not fill in these days himself, or he destroyed them. There are some estimates that Kafka destroyed 70% – 80% of everything he wrote. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

20 September 1917

                Dreamed a mixture. I walked – a desolate figure trudging the vast Steppes. Yet I rode wildly – a madman with my forehead pressed against the compartment window. And I saw myself as the train raced by, outlined by the yellow light of the coach; and then a slender body turning to stare at the racing train. We both hollered, but noise and distance obscured our voice. The vast Steppes turned into a castle, but the castle was displayed in the photos of a magazine, which I held on my lap in the flickering light of the compartment, as the train became engulfed by the large buildings on either side of the tracks. In the magazine there was a railway at the base of the castle, and as I looked out the window the stone walls filled the frame, each giant block wedged securely to the others, their facing protruding and rough. It was as if the train had entered a tunnel, except there was still light from the distant sky.

     I turned a page, and had to squint to see the pictures. Along the whole bottom of the magazine pages, a train obscured part of the castle wall, almost becoming a part of the stones. Black and white, light and shade, blending into a sepia which smudged all the details. Was there a figure in the window?

DE

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