After losing everything: wife and kids, job, house, car, cat--

not to mention--his mind, from all the alcohol,

he washes up onto an island made out of mattress.

The sky is the ceiling. The ocean is the ugly carpet

which hasn't been cleaned for centuries,

bearing the stains of those who tried to swim across it,

and failed, drowning before ever reaching the door.

He scoops up the sand, burying himself alive

under the blankets. But he will probably live forever, he tells himself.

The sun is the light bulb beating down on him.

He is too tired and weak to turn it off.

God is the housekeeper, who he's never met,

who continues to make his bed each time he leaves.

Sleep is heaven. Reality is hell.

As much as we adore real-time digital reading, we understand that there’s nothing quite like the feeling of a paperback in-hand.

Because of that, we are thrilled to announce that physical copies of our e-books (The Prose Anthologies series and others) will soon be available for purchase. For starters, we invite you all to visit the CreateSpace store (look for the link in the comments) where you can order our newest release, Prose: The Haiku Edition. This hard copy edition is complete with Japanese traditional, literal, and English translations.

On the note of publishing, we are also pleased to inform you of a new bi-annual challenge called “The #ProsePitch.”

Twice a year, starting today, we will call for submissions of a 500-750 synopsis of your work-in-progress or completed novel manuscript. This is yet another way for us to help writers achieve their publishing goals.

The challenge (theprose.com/challenge/2444):

Write a 500-750 word synopsis of your work-in-progress or completed novel manuscript. Prose will select the top entry for publication on Kindle, Nook, and Kobo. The winner will also be provided a fully customized package of editing, design, and marketing services.

If your novel “pitch” wins, you will receive:

- A full proofread and suggested edits of your complete novel.

- A final line edit and formatting.

- Copies of the final version in .PDF, ePub, and .mobi extensions.

- A published e-book under the Prose KDP/Nook/ Kobo accounts.

- A teleconference with Prose’s in-house graphic designer.

- A custom e-book and paperback cover design.

- 15 custom tweets and captions for you to use on social media to promote your novel.

- Banner/cover photos for Facebook and Twitter featuring the title and cover design of your novel.

- An Instagram promo image with custom caption.

NOTE: The author will receive ALL royalties for the life of the novel.

In addition to the above-listed incentives, the winner will also receive free e-book copies of The Prose Anthologies (Volumes I and II) and the Prose Haiku Edition. Second and third place winners will receive a complimentary copy of one Prose e-book of their choice.

Qualifications:

You must be at least 16 years of age and be able to deliver a full-length novel if you win. Previously published manuscripts are ineligible. Winners will be announced on December 1, 2015. All genres are admissible. NaNoWriMo participants welcome.

The challenge will run for two (2) full months. Once the winners are announced, we will consult directly with the first place author to coordinate editing, marketing, and publishing logistics.

If the winning author is unable to deliver a complete manuscript within 30 days of the announcement, he or she agrees to forfeit the publishing services. We will then defer to the second-place winner.

We will notify everyone late next summer once the winning novel is available for e-reading download or direct purchase on Kindle, Nook, and Kobo. Any related news and updates will be featured here and on our blog at: blog.theprose.com, so keep an eye out.

If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact our editorial staff directly at https://theprose.com/p/contact.

Had an unreal vocal / guitar practice session earlier this evening. I went places I didn't know I *could* go vocally; oddly (or not) it *frightened* me to realize that "ok, this is IT, this is the same place *really great singers* go; you are at this microsecond EQUAL to any of them so far as a combination of right breathing, phrasing and raw honest unchecked emotion go, this is IT...but can you FIND IT AGAIN once you've stopped? What if you can't get it back?" Then, of course, I must ask myself: "Uh, what's the scientifically quantifiable definition of *a really great singer*, anyway? Isn't 'great singer' a completely subjective matter?" And, now, as if the Universe wants to gently, mischievously mock me, "Killer Queen" comes on 105.9, with the inimitable Freddie Mercury and his 5-octave range doing gymnastics I could never match. Then again, I'm not a gymnast, I'm a wrestler, so it's all good. But does anyone get what I mean, when I say "I transcended what I thought I was, and it scared the shit out of me"?

hand over hand over heart

watch just watch as I slip apart

sinking and winking

clinking and drinking

running my hands through you

running water

sitting glue

hold on hold me hold on

hanging and hinging

starving and binging

I have lived life with a high tolerance for pain and I wonder what it would be like if I felt it all

what it would be like if I let myself fall

but I haven't the time to slip

slip slap slop drop drip drop tick tock

I wish to take myself apart and put myself back together again in hope of fixing the perpetual ache of my engine but I can't quite find any edges to pry apart

there are cracks in my sanity but no matter how deep my fingernails dig there is nothing beneath my skin but honeycomb and cotton

forget forget forgotten

undo me and discover the things buried beneath layers of denial

empty epiphany entity eloise

I dreamed a dream

sinking slipping sipping drunk sunk fuck

spilling secrets with my own ears plugged

I'm not asking for a savior I'm not asking for a favor I just wish you wanted to

I can do just fine on my own

I don't feel any pain

and I'm damn good at walking away

i left you out in the pouring rain and let the cold sink into your bones: i let her hold your hands and kiss your lips and watched as your cries turned to moans. and that hurt. more than i’ve ever known. but i knew i had to. you were all i’d ever known but i had to let you go because distant memories always seemed better in your darkest places. i can’t handle all these ghosts in lavender hazes. i remember you used to sing to me. lyrics never meant so much and i’d never heard singer-songwriters filled with that much love. that much angst and regret. they never sang the blues quite like you. you were a romantic and i was quite the hopeless case: you had eyes only a writer could describe and i was hopelessly lost in space. i have a lump in my throat from holding back sobs but i know it’s all for good. i know she’ll love you more than i could.

We've been drifting apart for so long now

That I can't remember the last time we said a sincere hello.

Yet I can't rid my mouth of the taste of you.

And I can't rid my heart of the ache of you being gone.

We can't close this chasm that separates us.

We can't repair the bridge between us that's been destroyed.

And I call to your dead name every single night.

But you never respond with lively words to revive my cold heart.

I saw a friend, oh a friend, howdeedoo?

And he sang high while I sang low

And nothing in between but love to show

Just maybe, oh maybe, I showed it well

We met again and again we sang

Butchering and flowering each rippling note

While my mind found its way into a hole

Lost but informed of where to go

I met a friend, a friend I'd say

So wonderfully and carefully showed me the way

As I thanked her I spoke of her to my old name

And he played his mandolin of the coming happy day

--

So I found my way back home this stormy night

For the living dream it spoke of what to leave behind

Just maybe, oh maybe, I'll do it kind

Everything is hopeless at Night

For nothing moves

Only Dreams are Running

Parallel to the Reality

In Her Dream

Only This Dream with Him

Her Tears would Laugh with Her Cuss

For Being Wishful in Her Dream