My Epic Comedy Sci-fi Detective novel 24th Century Dick, free as ebook today (friday) and Saturday. Check it out.

 Like the title says. Free on all Amazon sites, ebook version. Paperback avail too. Read and be merry, if this pleases you.

Amazon.com: 24th Century Dick eBook : Smallegange, Daniel: Kindle Store

Flirting Lizards, Comic Drawn and Written by Dan Smallegange

 Drawn and Written By Daniel Smallegange, copyright 2025, all rights reserved.

Our Man Jack, by Daniel Smallegange (Poetic Fiction from my book The City: Tales of the Post-Post Apocalypse)

Spoken of with facetious proclivities is our man Jack. They’ve said he’s descended from lords and Czars or empirical mathematics.

“I am not all about the violence sordid, but the artistic destruction need be recorded.” 

So said our man Jack.

Our man Jack sat and brooded, as we danced and cavorted. What he wanted: change for the train, fare from the city. What he got: us speaking to him with facetious proclivity.

“Beware of atheists!” someone shouted. “And men driving large trucks.”

He sat and stared, our man Jack, as we linguistically danced, made poor attempts at romance, sat as if in a trance, but his smile grew and lingers, to this day it does malinger. But I do digress, we were such a mess, all full of festive glee, slight and amusing hypocrisy, for our man Jack, who’d been so hard done by, oh so hard done by. Listen man or woman, listen to the cry, the cries of all those been done hard by. They gnash their teeth in the streets of Kensington as all the whores go by, proffering their wares as we and Jack do sit by and by, laugh and stare at whores proffering their wares. And those gnashing pull out empty pockets and pull out their hair. We watch the whores and we do compare, some among us haggling for an honest fare.

We order a pitcher of sleep. We’ve all been running and have sunk too deep, are in too deep with bookies, mobs, those who keep the keys, to our residences, our hearts, and dreams so far so we are not allowed even to sleep.

Our man Jack, he sits now, now leans back, smiles that smile and whiles it all away. His brain is lost away and at play behind the curtains of his drooping eyes, which are lovely but for that stye in the eye of our hurricane of pleasant loud and laughing hearts, underpinning the sigh in the tremendous eye of our despair we hide so well unlike our man Jack who is now becoming involved in a well manifested attack. Oh Jack we love you when you bend your tender heart to well meaning and irrefutable attack. He is our man Jack and when it strikes him he bends all will and logic to his hand so that none may stand and makes his magnificent attack against us, all our fake bravery, false modesty and joking camaraderie. We lap it up and know the truth, we are the uncouth and we love it, we so love it.

But our man Jack he does relax when we grow him a whiskey tree. With one sip his solemnity does slip we do see and he just sits as out on the street one of our number does meet a sister of mercy ~ wearing fishnets. Violence and a slap in the face as the band does take its place.

“There are islands out there where humanity does fare, better than this city, it is so shitty sometimes here,” pipes in Ryana, chief bassist, his voice fair and clear for all and one to hear, which we do, but pretend not to.

“He got his hand caught in a rope, no rope-a-dope, but switch turn an’ vicious.”

“Blade in the back, shiv turn counter attack.”

Watch our man Jack, as he sips from his whiskey tree happy as a flag at half mast at some ceremony. And there I sat, enveloped in black, as the merry conversation overtook me, overwrought me, bent and shook me. Pretty parties sallied by, past me and our man Jack smiling against the grain, who somehow gives me strength, stops up the pain, and don’t wanna cry no more. No, don’t wanna cry no more. Ambulance wagon arrives for the one who was shived in the thigh. Not his back after all, still can hear his muted sob-cry. All the ruffians scatter as if it at all matters, an’ even our man Jack, he’s disappeared. ‘Tis then I get the fear. Eyes agog. See what’s next through a film of fog. Outside are the non-entities. Inside where all is silence. I am a malcontent, do feel maleficent.

Our man Jack shouting from the throng: “Cybele was there. She’s at the bar talking communist. She said to say you are the grist and chaff she sometimes gets caught in her teeth!”

That is when all mayhem broke loose. Blind-sided punch in the face to some hero’s disgrace. Once again, all mayhem broke loose. Our man Jack riding some hero on the back and smashing his pint on his skull. The whore that my friend had decided to order, shrieking such blasphemies, defending her order, scratching some punter a different face. Our man Jack he started to dance as bottles and knives are thrown and the first exhibition of the new show violence did make with its vehement kiss. Jack in such bliss, inflicting non-partisan violence with the flick of the wrist.

Away and escape my way of attack and of Jack the last I did see, waving his arms and eyes full of glee, diving head first and into the spree. His smile dear friends will never go away.

Our man Jack, spoken of with facetious proclivities. His smile grew and lingers, to this day it does malinger…

By Daniel Smallegange, copyright 2006, all rights reserved.

Picture of the author, circa 2006ish?

Often and with Abandon

She crossed and then uncrossed

Both her friends and her thighs

Each often and with abandon

The former I found

Less intriguing than the latter

Legs I'd need a ladder to climb

Legs I would consider

Worthy of almost any crime

Her friends now former

Decidedly unbothered and

Unimpressed with attempts at uncrossings

Both legs or otherwise

All those

Half hearted requests for forgiveness

Casual lies and false meekness

Just like the Rubicon once crossed

There can be no going back

Ask Caesar

Who also fell out with his friends in the end

So who can blame former friends

Certainly not I

Focused intently on

Legs I would need a ladder to climb

Which she crosses and uncrosses

So often and with abandon

By: Daniel Smallegange, copyright 2025, all rights reserved.

Some artwork on my wall, by Walter Klassen.

Cartoon Written and Drawn by Daniel Smallegange, copyright 2022, all rights reserved.

Written and drawn by Daniel Smallegange, all rights reserved, copyright 2022.

The Crux of the Matter

The crux of the matter

This is what we are after

She said and then

Levelled the gun

And then

Pointing the gun in my direction

Pointing the business end of said gun

In my direction

This causing consternation and

Stuttering as

The wrong end of barrels pointing, mainly gun barrels pointing

Disagrees with my proclivity to discourse freely

Or at least without pause or repetitive actions

IE stuttering

So stuttering occurred and then increased with

The cocking of said weapon's hammer

The crux you say, I boldly and firmly managed

Though bold nor firm could describe my mental state at the time

Always the crux, it's the centre of things really, I tried

Naturally, said she and pulled the trigger three times

If anything was repeated after this

I heard it not

But I do know, in hindsight

The crux of the matter was not gotten at

Unless it involved my death

Which then begs the point

Why ask about it in the first place?

By: Daniel Smallegange, all rights reserved, copyright 2025.

Photo by Blake Morrow, from a still of the author from the short film The Officer.

When One is Un Loved

When one is un loved

One must continue to

Love

Despite a lack of

Willing recipients

And even if only to love 

One's self

One must continue to love

And not the kind of self love you do

In private when no one's home

With one's laptop

Although that type of self love

Is not a bad thing

Either at any rate

Especially if you have decent internet

But when one is un loved

Try an'

Continue to love

Regardless

What I am talking about

Try to continue to love

Other's or even if only

One's self

What I am meaning to say

Or trying to at least

Anyways

Self love

One must continue to... 

By: Daniel Smallegange, all rights reserved 2025.

Photo of the author, in Toronto, Fall 2024.