"Darkest Depths" Winner: Jacob Steven Mohr

Congrats to our Darkest Depths Competition Winner, Jacob Steven Mohr, for his poem, Moon Change.

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A huge thanks for everyone who participated in our Darkest Depths Competition with book blog, Coffee, Book & Candle! All the submissions were wonderful; it made it incredibly hard to choose one over another. But we managed to vote and our winners are as follows:

Honorable Mention: "Under" by Ginger Lee

Third Place: "Under the Abattoir" by Amulet Ives

Second Place: "Jewelry Box Dancer" by Danielle Edwards

And a resounding congrats to the Winner, Jacob Steven Mohr, for his poem, Moon Change!

All poems will be posted on Coffee, Book, & Candle's blog. And a happy reminder that everyone who puts themselves out there creatively is a winner in our eyes. We are honored that we got to read all of your work and hope to see more in the future!

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Moon Change

by Jacob Steven Mohr

The moon appeared a lover; I succumbed,

Snapping forward bodily into the change, but

I did not become a wolf. I became a man.

Yes, a man! With a man's bulk and breath and need.

So I stalked the shadow-haunted corridors of my life,

Seeking prey, and you appeared: full-voiced and ripe-bodied,

Aloof, beckoning, luminous framed in that high window.

With claws and bare-pad feet I scaled the edifice,

Entered your chamber and beheld you reclining on

The white sheet, breathing softly. And when I

Cut you to ribbons--

No cry escaped your crimson mouth.

Then it was finished; I saw you smiling on the bed,

Mouth grinning blood, your blood, and I was afraid. I fled

That place, but now daylight will not come for me. Only

The moon's sightless white eye:

My lover, my conqueror, my lord god,

Pursued me ever across cold pale hours

And the flash of your red teeth

Was never far behind again.

Don't buy the hype: Jacob Steven Mohr was not raised by wolves. Feral children are capable of many things, but weaving wild words into flesh and fantasy isn't one of them. Lucky us. If it wer