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Back cover reveal

My new poetry book Pancreatic Care Package is set to release Tuesday, Sept. 18, from West Vine Press.

From back of the book: Within this collection from Colorado native Steve Shultz, you’ll find poems about lost time, sickness, shadowy figures, demons and dreams. Poems about starting over. Poems about simply existing. Poems about self-doubt. Poems about a girl. Poems about the necessity of poetry. Just poems.

ABOUT POET: Steve Shultz read a lot of Hunter S. Thompson in college, which inspired him to declare a major in print journalism. He had some great times as a designer and reporter at some of Colorado’s major newspapers, and had some fun times going to free concerts in exchange for reviews. The decline of print journalism led him to pursue a lengthy vacation in the name of finding his “next chapter,” and somehow, he ended up as a mailman. Writing has been there all along the way.

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“Ate Tapes” by Steve Shultz

Punch Drunk Press

Ate Tapes

Time is a tape deck

we are stuck
on rewind,
fast to skip ahead

cassette,
eaten up inside

pause button stuck,,,
as we try to pick up

our spilled black ribbon entrails

Shultz Steve Shultz currently throws mail for the United States Postal Service. He is a former journalist with The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News. He is native to Colorado, born and raised, calling the Mile High suburb of Aurora home for most of his life. He is the author of FM Ghost, his first collection of poetry. His work has been featured in various zines and publications both online and in print. Read more of his poetry at here.

Featured Image by Robbie Masso. Find him on Facebook, instagram, and his website.

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Tiptoeing

To & fro
we go
backward

tiptoeing
into so-so
know-it-all

nothing
befell
everyone

a heavy boulder crisis

in spite of
a life of
comparative degeneration

where to go
when feel low
oh so

dead skin hardened
ready to be picked
& flicked away

listening to
a loud & deafening
lifeline

you can hear it in your chest

feel it overcome

feel it overwhelm

and I can hear
a piercing silence
as the beat is

ripped away
from the drum

nothing left but
suck thumb

head in sand
& struck dumb

it is so lonesome
to be alive
& not laugh

it is so wholesome
to be alive &
not care

listen to the loud
& deafening
lifeline

you can hear it
in your pulse

feel it overcome

feel it overwhelm

I V.

Make a wish to be a star
steal a star to be a wish
fake a smile to be a person
take a smile to be the truth

make a deal to better yourself
lose yourself to advance in life
rule a routine just to get by
fool everybody just to get by

when what you really need
is just to get right
when what you really need
is just to get right

we get by & we never
get it right
we get by but we
don’t get things right

we disappoint with
every exhale
we miss the point
with every inhale

we lose ourselves
in every worthwhile
we waste our time
all the while

shake off meetings with a ghost
fake the meaning behind a toast
break bread with common enemies
make a deal with a thief

what I really need v.
what I know I want
what I really want
v. what I need to know

Photos: Incubus/Deftones, Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Some amazing photographs here from my colleague Seth McConnell. I had the pleasure of being at this show and writing the review (see Seth’s link to Reverb). It truly was one of the best concerts I’ve seen this year.

Another Big Adventure

MORRISON, CO - AUGUST 24: Incubus performs at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado on August 24, 2015. (Photo by Seth McConnell/The Denver Post) MORRISON, CO – AUGUST 24: Incubus performs at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado on August 24, 2015. (Photo by Seth McConnell/The Denver Post)

A little over a decade ago I had tickets to see Incubus at Red Rocks. I had made plans with friends to go, worked on saving money to drive from South Dakota down to Morrison for a few days and attend the show. Through a series of unfortunate events, I was convinced that I didn’t have the money and had to back out at the last-minute only to check my bank account the day of the show, well after my friends had left for Colorado, to find my bank account padded by several hundred dollars. I still kick myself for not going to the show. Luckily they recorded it for a DVD and I get to see my friends sitting in the front row having an…

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