“Core Sample”

Like several of my poems, this one was written for a challenge in the Codex Writers’ Group, off a prompt image. In this case I was able to track down the source, so I believe credit goes to Mark Garlick for his science fictional image of a circular structure on the side of an asteroid that appears to lead into a deep opening (the picture is listed on stock sites as “Artwork of an asteroid being mined”). The poem I wrote off it maaaaay have verged a bit away from science fiction — shock, gasp — but that’s the soil it sprouted from!

The poem was published by DreamForge Anvil in February 2026, and you can read it online here!

Cover Gallery

cover art for issue #23 of DreamForge Anvil