Sumiko Saulson

The Doormouse is Dreaming

•January 6, 2024 • 1 Comment

Dark clouds settled around

the Hansen home

Frightened children ran up to their rooms.

Grandma barked out commands

to the older ones,

her shaky vibrato

rumbling with authority

“Lock the windows”

“Close the doors”

“Set the sugarbowl out in the foyer.”

The Doormouse peeped out

from under the sugar bowl lid

Where his dreamer’s gear

Was entirely hid

Blankets and pillows

All covered with down

Then he pulled his lid over

And gave way to dreaming

Over the garden,

The mighty clouds wept

While in the dreamhouse

The Doormouse slept

Building worlds with

His tiny mind

On handknit doilies

In sleep reclined

Little minds are quietly scheming

In the hidden world of sleep

You can’t erase the Doormouse dreaming

Of worlds and concepts thimble-deep

Grandma locks up her cupboards tight

And grips her cane with knuckles white

Prevent ye incursions of deeper meaning

Doormouse keep us safe tonight

In shallow waters puddle-wide

Safe from the full moon’s pull of tide

Face snuggled in his soft-fur hide

Posted in Everything Else

2023 in Writing, Sumiko Saulson

•December 31, 2023 • Leave a Comment

2023 in writing:

-THE RAT KING: A Book of Dark Poetry was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award, and Elgin Award

-“Survivor,” a poem from THE RAT KING: A Book of Dark Poetry, tied for third place for the Dwarf Stars poetry award

– I was Toastmaster at MileHighCon and received a Toastmaster Award (my first GOH Appearance anywhere!)

– 160 BLACK WOMEN IN HORROR was released with the assistance of the incredible Kenya Moss-Dyme

– BLACK WOMEN IN HORROR MAGAZINE was released with the assistance of Kenya Moss-Dyme

– a BLACK WOMEN IN HORROR panel took place at StokerCon, and one took place at AfroComicCon

-“All Hail the Queen” a short story was published in HorrorZine’s Book of Monsters.

– “The Denounment of Freeze Dried Coffee” a short story was published in We’re Here: An Anthology of LGBT Horror

– “The Ballad of Faerie Garcia,” short story, In Trouble (Omnium Gatherum) edited by EF Schraeder and Elaine Schleiffer

– “A Confusion of the Gods,” a short story, was published Blackened Roots edited by Nicole Givens Kurtz and Tonia Ransom

– “The Dessicated Heart” was published in “Manor of Frights” edited by Emerian Rich

– the poems “The Queen of Death, Perplexed”. “Syndrome of the Impostor” and “Mercurial Creature” were published in The Horror Zine, November 2023 issue

– the comic zine AND WE LIVED LONG ENOUGH TO BURY OUR DEAD was published on Dooky Zines

– the comic zine GHOST CAT IS BEST CAT was published on Dooky Zines

– the comic zine THE DRAIN MONSTER was published on Dooky Zines

Posted in Everything Else
Tags: fiction, Horror, poetry, zine, zines

Last Sunday, I had to deal with a microaggressive white woman at my favorite karaoke bar. It’s not the first time she’s been microaggressive. She has a fetishizing relationship with the men of color that she dates and a generally fetishizing relationship with people of color. She frequently corners me and forces me to endure her endless very cringeworthy racial monologues.

It’s damned near impossible to explain racist microaggressions to a staff that has zero black people. I haven’t seen a black person work there in a good 15 years.

I had to have my white partner explain racial microaggressions to the only non-white person working there at the time because the staff was too busy tone-policing me to understand that I was allowed to set any sort of boundaries with this person. The next time I returned to the club, said staff person asked what she did (again) because she is “generally sweet” to the staff.

I said I was not surprised to hear she is generally sweet to the staff. There are no black people on the staff, she has said several times that she would like to get a job working there, and although said staff person acknowledged that she keeps making cringeworthy racial comments to him, it doesn’t bother him.

This woman asked me to sing a duet with her. She asked for “Baby It’s Cold Outside” and I suggested White Christmas. I let her sit at the table with me and my friends, and sing a song with us, but it was definitely a give her an inch and then she takes a mile kind of situation because she immediately asked me to sing “Dream” with her.

I did not want to and said no.

She refused to take no for an answer, about six times in a row, and said “Just tell me what I did wrong?” over and over again. When I agreed to sing one Christmas song with her, at no time did I agree to sing multiple songs with her. but she became extremely emotionally manipulative, refused to respect my boundaries, and used white tears to coerce my compliance in front of my partner Princess Chris Hughes and two other witnesses at our table.

When I refused to comply, she left both her drinks at our table for approximately 20 minutes and after some time I said “I guess she left” and brought them back to the bar. When I did so, she returned, took the two beers, and sat next to my partner. She waved at me to come sit between her and my partner, and I refused and sat across the table. At that point, a staff member (the only non-white one working at the time) came and asked me what was wrong. It was very clear (in a very short time) that I was going to have to have my white partner talk to him because I was dealing with people in such a colonized space.

San Francisco is a generally hostile place for African Americans. 5.3% of the population there is Black, yet close to 40% of homeless San Franciscans are Black. As many of you know, my mental health improved greatly when I moved from San Francisco to Oakland – where I was able to pursue my writing career in an environment that doesn’t disregard the concerns of African Americans while forwarding their own narrative. Not that Oakland is free of overt or covert racism, but it is 33% Black.

It is very frustrating and difficult to try to communicate with people whose political views are very different from yours, and I have lost all hope that anything will ever get corrected in this place except me. Their policies are so generally lax in other areas that there has been no response whatsoever to my report that I was nonconsensual groped (twice) by a drunken patron with a documented history of groping multiple women (yes, a couple of women approached me, and told me he’s done it to them as well). Only one woman is working inside the club.

Posted in Everything Else
Tags: articles, book-review, microaggressions, Racism, whiteness

The Case of the Confounded Chiropterologist

•November 2, 2023 • 1 Comment

As promised, here is the complete story in three rounds of the “The Case of the Confounded Chiropterologist,” a work of flash fiction written at MileHighCon in three rounds during Flash Fiction Chopped, a contest hosted by Meg Ward. I tied for first place. Here is my winning piece, along with all of the prompts we were given.

Round 1

Character: Chiropterologist

Location: Public Library

Conflict: Do Nilla Wafers Belong in Banana Pudding?

Maurice had come to the library simply to study bats for his figure career as a chiropterologist. He’d, in fact, come across a strange specimen in his fieldwork and wanted to see if his discovery was unique and could become the subject of his thesis paper. The books he needed were nowhere to be found, but thank goodness for microfiche!

He got into line for the librarian – but as he awaited, two ruffians engaged in a loud argument about the value of nilla wafers in banana pudding. It was growing louder, and the two erupted into fisticuffs!

The librarian ran over to break it up, but to her shock and dismay, they began pelting eachother with wafers and pudding!

The smell of pudding awakened the fossilized bad in Maurice’s pocket, and it flew to the ruffians and drank their blood.

Round 2

Character: 8-month-old Baby Whose First Word is “Uh Oh”

Location: Police Station

Conflict: Indecent Exposure

The police detective was aghast as the two bloodied, Nilla wafer-covered ruffians entered the interrogation room. Maurice waited outside, to be called in for his report later.

The strange, hungry bat was hidden in his pocket. It burst forth, shredding his jeans, in front of a young mother and her 8-month-old baby!

“Indecent exposure!” the policeman shouted as Maurnce tried to cover his torn underpants.

“Don’t look!” the baby’s mother screamed, covering the child’s eyes.

“Uh oh!” shouted the baby.

“Joey’s first words!” the mother said excitedly, as Maurice stood sadly, covering his shame.

His indiscretion was soon forgotten, as the agitated bat latched onto a police detective’s jugular vein, letting loose a stream of crimson blood, jetting forth as a geyser. It hit the terrified librarian in the face, and she turned to run out of the room, but the librarian did nothing but attract the bat, who tore into the librarian’s face as she covered her eyes.

The terrified toddler’s mother vomited.

Round 3

Character: Jason (Friday 13th)

Location: Pub

Conflict: Whether or not the Empire State Building should be 3 feet taller

The pub was filled at happy hour when a drunken brawl broke out between Angus and Larry.

“They should have changed the building laws!” Larry screamed.

“The Empire State Building is shorter by 30 feet for a reason. Earthquakes!”

“It’s not in San Francisco!” Larry shot back. Right then, a weird bat flew through the door, and began to chew into Larry’s face, tearing off most of his lower jaw. Blood spurted everywhere!

The rest of the patrons ran to escape, but they could not! Jason from Friday the 13th was in the door. He ran at Angus and chopped his head off. The hungry bat ran at it and ate the eye.

Just then, Maurice burst in, torn underwear flapping in the wind, and screamed, “I’ll save you!”

“You look ridiculous,” Jason said, which stunned everyone because Jason never spoke.

“Uh oh!” Maurice cried out, spotting Jason, and started to flee.

Right then,, the police showed up and shot Jason. They were distracted as the zombified Angus and Larry, drunk and inebriated, rose hungry from the floor.

It’s a good thing that one of them was headless and the other jawless so they could eat no one.

“It’s the revenge of the zombie bat!” Maurice screamed, just before the heroic librarian arrived, with the microfiche needed for Maurice to save the day!

Posted in Everything Else

Join us at Oakland’s A Great Good Place for Books

•October 13, 2023 • Leave a Comment

Bay Area friends, join me, Tamika Thompson, T.E. MacArthur – Author and Nikki Blakely at Oakland’s A Great Good Place for Books 6120 La Salle Ave – Oakland, CA – 94611 on Thursday, October 26th at 7pm for a spooky reading. We’ll share our work and Halloween treats.

Posted in Everything Else

“Missing” by R.L. Merrill, Excerpt from Manor of Frights

•August 22, 2023 • 1 Comment

HorrorAddicts.net Presents:

Manor of Frights

Imagine a Victorian house where every room is cursed with a frightful existence. Are monsters in the halls? Ghosts left to fester in the library? Or are the rooms themselves enchanted with malevolent energy? What was summoned long ago and what doorways were left open? Manor of Frights is a collection of tales all set in different rooms of the same house.

With authors: Judith Pancoast, Daphne Strasert, Loren Rhoads, Mark Orr, Michael Fassbender, R.L. Merrill, Sumiko Saulson, Ollie Fox, Barend Nieuwstraten III, Rosetta Yorke, Amanda Leslie, Lesley Warren, BF Vega, DW Milton, D.J. Pitsiladis, Jason Fischer, and Emerian Rich.

**********

An excerpt from Manor of Frights

Missing

by R.L. Merrill

Scullery, 1980

Kristy sat fidgeting in the front seat of her sister Tammy’s Pontiac Firebird and dreading her community service outing obligation.

“Don’t wander off inside that house. Remember what happened to Dawn.”

Kristy rolled her eyes and reached for the handle, swinging the heavy door open. Tammy’s best friend Dawn swore she had a run-in with a specter in the manor when she volunteered for the annual festival, and ever since, Dawn refused to even drive by the house.

Nestled in a suburban neighborhood, the Holmes Manor stood tall and proud surrounded by giant pine trees. The grounds had been restored with walking paths, botanical gardens, and displays of the antique farm equipment used when the manor was the center of a large fruit orchard.

“Yeah, whatever. Pick me up at eight? I want to get to the football game by halftime,” Kristy said.

Tammy waved and drove off. Kristy was only two years younger than her sister, but she hadn’t prioritized getting her driver’s license, so she had to rely on Tammy for rides despite the fact she was now a senior and about to turn eighteen.

Kristy climbed the steps to the mansion. She gazed up past the tower to the overcast afternoon sky, shivering as she reached the top step. She winced at the creaking sound the porch made as she stepped across. The ornate door was open and Kristy saw her classmates inside that were also part of the manor’s High School Historical Society. Their task was to perform the roles played by servants and the family members of the Victorian-era mansion for the 100th-anniversary celebration held that afternoon. They’d been practicing for weeks to guide members of the community through the stuffy old house in groups to see what life was like when the Holmes family moved in during the fall of 1880.

Kristy had begged her history teacher to make her a docent, but since she was also in cooking class, Mrs. Hensley had assigned Kristy to the scullery. That meant for the six-hour event, she’d have to be stuck in the creepy room, chopping vegetables, and peeling potatoes. After the cooks prepared the food for the tour groups, she’d have to wash the dishes. And all the chores had to be done in period costume.

“There you are, Kristy.” Mrs. Lam handed her a uniform. “You can change in the room at the back of the stairs and then head straight to your post. Our first tour group will be arriving shortly.”

Kristy knew where to go and how to dress—in theory—but the bulky material in her arms was heavy. Doing any housework dressed like that would be a chore in itself.

She entered the room and her breath caught. Miranda Glenn was fussing with the buttons at the back of her dress. Kristy’s cheeks burned as she watched the pretty girl attempt to fasten them herself. In a huff, Miranda tossed her dark brown curls over her shoulder and her eyes brightened when she saw Kristy.

“Oh! Can you give me a hand? Then I can help you with yours. I can’t believe how heavy these dresses are.”

Kristy never spoke without sounding like a dork in front of Miranda. She was so pretty. Kristy made quick work of fastening the buttons. She wished she could linger, allowing her knuckles to run over the curve of Miranda’s back. Instead, she finished and then turned to toss the dress over her head.

“Whoa,” Miranda chuckled. “I think yours is heavier than mine. Let me help.”

Kristy could barely breathe as Miranda straightened out the layers of fabric and then buttoned up the back. All Kristy could do was smile so wide her cheeks hurt.

“Thanks,” she said. “I, uh, better go.”

“I wish you were working in the kitchen with me,” Miranda pouted. “You’re so much better at cooking than I am.”

Kristy flushed at the compliment. “I got stuck in the scullery.”

Miranda frowned. “That room gives me the creeps.”

“What do you mean?” Kristy asked.

“I don’t know. When they took us in there, it just seemed like my hair stood on end. It was probably nothing. It doesn’t seem so bad now. Anyway, are you going to the football game after? Maybe we could sit together.” Miranda waved as she left the room, leaving Kristy to gawk.

To read more, go to: Manor of Frights

Posted in Anthologies, Horror Addicts
Tags: Horror Addicts, Manor of Frights, Missing, RL Merrill

•August 11, 2023 • Leave a Comment

Author Interview: B.F. Vega / Manor of Frights / Lanai

Posted in Everything Else

I was profiled in the Chronicle as a poet when I was 20 (back in 1988)

•July 19, 2023 • Leave a Comment

This is me in 1988 at the age of 20, in the San Francisco Chronicle where I was profiled in an article called “The Bay Area Is Still A Magnet for Poets” by Carlos Vidal Greth. “Thirty years after the Beat Generation held literary court in North Beach, young poets still flock to the Bay Area seeking a spiritual home.” was the subtitle of the May 16, 1988 article.

The segment about me begins by discussing my poetry teacher at a free program for the homeless and marginally housed at Central City Hospitality House in San Francisco’s Tenderloin.

The article says:

Jack Micheline, who lives in the Tenderloin, is one of the unofficial “professors” the emerging poets study. His book “River of Red Wine,” published in 1957 with an introduction by Kerouac, helped set the tone for the Beat Generation.

“San Francisco has always been a refugee camp for poets,” said Micheline, 57.

He worries, however, that younger poets fail to reach a wide audience.

“I tell them if they want to be heard, they should go into a bar and jump on a pool table or read their work on a Muni bus,” said the Bronx native. “Poetry gets in your blood like a hurricane. You’ve got to let it out.”

For 20-year-old writer Sumiko Saulson, however, poetry has been the calm eye in a stormy life.

Saulson said because her mother was in prison and her father was a heroin addict, she had to raise herself and her younger brother, a “Hare Krishna punk studying to be a heavy equipment operator.”

She migrated from Los Angeles to the Bay Area two years ago because she imagined it would provide a congenial environment for her art. Flat broke, she landed in a fleabag hotel in the Tenderloin.

The Tenderloin was an unlikely place to launch a literary career. Yet in the last two years, she has attended writing workshops at Hospitality House, a homeless shelter and cultural center, and has produced two self-published collections of poetry that she has sold through bookstores on consignment. She also has read her work at the Tenderloin Self-Help Center and other social service and “outreach” organizations.

“I don’t see how those places are inferior to a Berkeley coffeehouse or a highbrow bookstore,” said Saulson, who wears steel-rim glasses, a painted leather jacket and braids dyed the color of a polluted sunset.

“The Tenderloin excites me,” she said. “New ideas are generated here because necessity nurses invention. It’s a bad place only if you let yourself get into trouble. You can sleep on the street and not get beaten up.”

Saulson, who sings in a band called Poetic Justice, writes the lyrics of a rebellious child forced to grow up fast:

God doesn’t care about my hair

Or the kind of clothes I wear

If I’m straight or if I’m gay

God will love me either way.

Jesus was an outcast, too

Not Mr. Authority, like you.”

Posted in Everything Else

“The Dessicated Heart” has been published in Manor of Frights

•June 29, 2023 • 1 Comment

Sumiko Saulson’s short story “The Dessicated Heart” has been published in Manor of Frights, which was edited by Emerian Rich and released on HorrorAddicts on Jun 23, 2023. Additionally, an audio podcast of the story was released on the HorrorAddicts.net Podcast Episode 222 on June 24, 2023 (read by Read by Emerian Rich and Rish Outfield).

Hear the podcast at: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/horroraddicts-net/id286123050

Posted in Everything Else