Clayton A. Couch's poetry has appeared in numerous small press publications. He works as an online freelance proofreader/editor and as a Library Specialist at Midlands Technical College in Columbia, SC. Dark Planet is designed and edited by Lucy A. Snyder. If you spot any errors, or if you have any comments, please contact her at lusnyde@cyberus.ca. All materials copyright 1996-2001 by their respective creators. No stories, articles, poems or images from this webzine may be posted or published without the written consent of their creator(s).

Emergences by Clayton A. Couch october chills blue uneasy morning; wasps, lazy and cold, orbit browning leaves. oak sap spots windshield. tree shelters insect parasites in wood, limbs gnarled and aching. torture perfected. a touch regretful that -- without remorse -- the buzz doesn't sting. taxing roots system, soils black memory and symbols of bore. when globes empty out, they surface strange wings.