I am confident Lovecraft
Would never have
Forgiven me
For not being
His kind of
Caucasian
And instead being
A short
Non-pedigreed
Scotts-Irish
Liberal
From California
Who associates with
All the wrong
Sort of people
And rejects
The “cultural norms”
Of Western
Civilization
As antiquated,
Vindictive,
And too-often cruel.
I am confident Lovecraft
Would have been
The embodiment
Of a YouTube
Comments field
Brash and blowing
Hard, offensive,
Entitled,
On every level,
And racist to boot.
I am confident Lovecraft
Would have,
In a fit of pique,
Unfriended me
On Facebook,
Like [redacted] did,
After attempting
To start a fight
On my wall
Over electoral politics.
(Don’t forget to
Vote your
Conscience, folks!)
I am confident Lovecraft
Would have been
A tremendous douche
In person, a
Truly poisonous
Individual, occasionally
Charming in conversation,
But dropping N-bombs
And complaining about
Jews and fags and
Probably even voting
For Donald Trump.
But then, Howard
Is not my friend, but
Merely a writer
Who died
Thirty-something years
Before I was born,
Whose work
And grim visions
Of cosmic horror
I can—and do—admire,
As much as I find his
Barbarian opinions
Irksome. So while
I often play
In a sandbox
He created, I am
Confident I don’t
Need to do
a damned thing
To impress
Him.

—
For Scott R Jones and, indirectly, S. T. Joshi, on the 126th anniversary of H. P. Lovecraft’s birth.

And just to mention, the ebook of my latest Lovecraft-inspired anthology, Cthulhu Fhtagn!, is currently just $2.99 for Kindle, Kobo, and Nook. Here’s a link.