on the fifth anniversary of her death by Lee Clark Zumpe

on the fifth anniversary of her death

Lee Clark Zumpe

Liz: The cars still race across
the Courtney Campbell Causeway,
nightly, oblivious to ghosts
haunting the rocks on the shelf of the bay.

Liz: The waves sweep the beach
incessantly, swallowing the ruined
piers, grinding abandoned conch shells
into gravelly shards untouched by tourists.

Liz: I still remember breaking down,
crying on the curbside near your
apartment; the long lonely drive
to meet your family and say goodbye.

Liz: The snows fell hard in West Virginia
last winter and I thought about your
father, alone on the farm with his
dogs and his photo albums.

Liz: The world crushes us, oblivious
to reason, grinding hope into
memories, baiting us with promises;
we cling awkwardly to faith and each other.


About the Author

Lee Clark Zumpe has been writing and publishing horror, dark fantasy, and speculative fiction since the late 1990s. His short stories and poetry have appeared in a variety of publications such as Weird Tales, Space and Time, and Dark Wisdom; and in anthologies such as Corpse Blossoms, Best New Zombie Tales (Vol. 3), Steampunk Cthulhu, and World War Cthulhu. His work has earned several honorable mentions in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror collections. An entertainment columnist with Tampa Bay Newspapers, Lee has penned hundreds of film, theater, and book reviews and has interviewed novelists as well as music industry icons such as Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains and Alan Parsons. His work for TBN has been recognized repeatedly by the Florida Press Association, including a first-place award for criticism in the 2013 Better Weekly Newspaper Contest. He lives on the west coast of Florida with his wife and daughter. Visit www.leeclarkzumpe.com.