Steve Nottingham

Beaconsfield, Bucks, England

I've been writing poetry for about the last five years. I also write fiction, mainly science fiction/fantasy and romance, and self-publish a large number of fan magazines based on popular TV shows and comic characters. I've also self-published two collections of my own poetry in magazine format: "To Distant Shores and Beyond" and "A Rose Blooms" (Available by mail-order). Precious awards: Editor's Choice Award 1994 and 1995 (National Library of Poetry), International Poet of Merit Award 1994, Best Minizine 1995 (Beauty and the Beast: U.K. Chamber).

A Rose Blooms

Somewhere in Hell a rose blooms
Rare, fragile pink petals so pure
A thing of pristine beauty
Stark contrast to its surroundings
Bubbling, heaving lava in motion
Black, riven rocks carved by demon hand.

Somewhere in Hell a rose blooms
Lonely oasis of beauty
Amidst foul brimstone and cinders
A place where demons leer and gibber
And dame soul wail
Praying for discarded salvation.

Somewhere in Hell a rose blooms
Untouched by the ugliness all around
Protected by a power greater than Satan's
The rose cannot be harmed
Not by demon or man
Not even by the Dark One himself.

Somewhere in Hell a rose blooms
But none know it's origin
Or how it came to grow here
Perhaps it is a sign
Offering hope to every damned soul
A glimmer of light in darkest pit.

Phoenix Arising

Eternal art thou
Birthed in celestial flames
Arching wings spread wide
Mighty talons posed to strike
Yours is a beauty both terrible and wondrous
You are the Phoenix arising.

Fated though you are to die
burnt upon scented pyre
Still you arise.
Reborn from your very ashes
Birthed in fire
You are the Phoenix arising.

You have traveled far
Born on flaming wings into death's very maw
What strange and terrible sights have you beheld?
Perhaps 'tis best not to know
Such knowledge might damn the soul
You are the Phoenix arising.

Once more you are reborn
Rising aloft on flame-seared wings
Giving voice to a loud, resounding cry
In which there is mixed awful sadness and joy
A sound piercing to the soul's very core
You are the Phoenix arising.