hoofbeats pound against the scorched plains,
scattering searing ash onto the fiery winds
herds, once as numerous as the stars
in the night sky, stray blindly
in search of forgotten pastures,
obscured by the shroud of dusk
and the remnants of the last frontier
unperturbed, the plainsman aims
a Sharps Model 1874
with a vision
piercing through
the shattered horizon
and, then—
amid an endless expanse, life trembles
under the shadow of death….
—
J. D. Harlock is an Eisner-nominated American academic pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of St. Andrews, whose writing has been featured in Business Insider, Newsweek, The Cincinnati Review, Strange Horizons, Nightmare Magazine, The Griffith Review, Queen’s Quarterly, and New York University’s Library of Arabic Literature. You can find him on LinkedIn, Twitter, Threads, & Instagram.
