Michael R. Clark

Friday Poem: "O Full of Scorpions"

This poem's title alludes to Macbeth's line that concludes, "...is my mind, dear wife." When I was a kid, I seemed to absorb all kinds of strange advice when I was in the Boy Scouts. One rule we had when camping was to always

Friday Poem

Friday Poem: "Anatomy of a Five-Lined Skink"

As someone who has been diagnosed with ADHD late in life, I have had a hard time reconciling my past experiences with this new (to me) lens of neurodivergence. When I reread past poems like this one, which I originally wrote when I was in my 20s, it becomes much

teaching

Adding Up to Nothing: "Content" and The Shreds of Context

I hate the word “content.” Content presupposes and prioritizes the container. It's focusing on the jar, and not the mayonnaise: pass me some of that content to smear on my sandwich. Or be careful with that mug! I don't want to get any content on my

Friday Poem

Friday Poem: "The Eleven O'Clock Show"

Yallingup Sheep Station, Western Australia To herd the muster of fifty gray sheep— a stumble-tide that runs and stops and bleats in forceful monosyllables— the Kelpie, a cinnamon-colored dog, leaps on their backs, paws careful, the way he would cross a shallow rapid on wet stones: snouting back and forth,

essay

Let Them Read Books, Part III

The epic conclusion of the braided essay that rivals Rapunzel's locks. If you missed Part I or Part II, follow the links. If you like this essay, and would like regular updates on what I'm publishing here, please consider subscribing. You'll get an email

Friday Poem

Friday Poem: "Dinosaur Hall"

Crossing the dim threshold from bright Independence Avenue is like a special effect of time: I can’t focus immediately, the scene bends and wobbles as if distorted by heat or reflected in a wind-skimmed pond. My older body is reverent where it stands, always smaller in dream and memory—

Speeches

Commencement Speech, Singapore American School Class of 2016

0:00 /28:17 1×

teaching

Let Them Read Books, Part II

Picking up from the previous post, here's the second part of my manifesto. The Rise of the Screen Apple launched its first iPhone, not coincidental to the death-throes of the book, in 2007. Before the year was out, everyone seemed to have one. I did. In his “iPhone

poems

Friday Poem: "Surveying With the Jumping Spider"

A crumb of dirt, at first glance. Dark fleck amongst white bird-speck and grill-ash. Then a headlong twitch forward fifty bug-lengths in half a blink, close to my hand in its gigantic clumsiness, all wrinkle and knuckle. Then it is on me. Microscopic furry glove with three extra fingers. Eye-buttons

essays

Let Them Read Books: A Teacher's Call to Action, Part I

This extra-long essay began as a write-beside-your-students exercise last year in my AP Lang class and it rapidly snowballed into a manifesto. The assignment was to write a braided essay, a creative and funky version of the old dry synthesis essay that includes anecdotal material and plays with the conventions

poems

Techniques of Avalanche Survival

When the white thunder stops and you’re finally curled in your womb of snow, wiggle your toes. If there is no pain, flex your fingers, make a fist, plow a breathing space. This smell—clean, empty— must be the scent of the upper atmosphere, dragged down miles, flake by

Speeches

Lost and Found: A TEDxYouth Talk on Collecting

Lost and Found: A TEDx Talk on Collecting * Atari Cartridges * The Best American Poetry Anthologies * Blu-Rays * Board Games * Cacti * Cassettes * Comic Books * Compact Discs * Dice * Dinosaur Books * Dinosaur Toys * DVDs * Encyclopedias of Monsters, Dragons, Fairies, Giants, Demons, etc. * Fantasy Miniatures * Fossil Sharks’ Teeth * Golden Books Field Guides * Horror Movie Magazines

News

It's All Coming Together

Welcome to michaelrclark.com, a brand new site that's combining all the various blogs and sites that I've created over the years. You'll find my original poems, nonfiction, reviews, features on monsters, miniature painting, collecting, and links to speeches, presentations, and teaching ideas. Things

Art

Behold!

I took a pause from the MPC project to paint the Wizkids "Classic Beholder," based on the (I dare say) iconic Tom Wham illustration from the 1e Monster Manual. An image that has stuck with me all these years, and despite there being no suggestion of color in

D&D Monsters

First Wave of MPC Minis

I’ve gotten through most of the monsters from the Dungeon Invaders kit. Been kind of avoiding said invaders as they are some of the most awkward looking figures I’ve ever seen. To make up for it I am going to add more monsters—some OG Grenadier minis, including

Art

Crawlin’ Back to You

Here’s my latest project. I've had an MPC AD&D Action Scene kit for, what, 20 years? I bought it on eBay once upon a time and have moved it back and forth among three continents. It came with all the pieces glued, but no paint

Action Figures

Zoids: The Pre-Hysterical Monster Machines, p. 1

So 2025 is bringing about some major downsizing and housecleaning. First to go is a big chunk of my vintage Zoids / Robostrux collection, which I've been amassing since 1984 (gulp). I decided to "keep" my collection as a photo album instead of in several boxes in

Uncategorized

Do I Have A Problem...?

This weekend I decided to inventory my entire Reaper Bones collection. I've been a backer since Kickstarter I and I've just received my modest box from KS VI... I set up all the large and x-large figures on my dining room table. It's kind

Figure Painting

Cadirith, Demonic Spider

Yet another oldie but goodie. Been assembled and primed since I don’t know when. Much prefer her painted.

Figure Painting

Eldritch Demon, aka Starspawn of Cthulhu

This one ended up as a farewell gift for my gaming buddy Paul on his new adventures in Paris. Just a little cyclopean flavour for his desk. Nothing says “can I help you with your tech problems?” like a writhing tentacled thing! Again, another ancient Bones model that took me

Figure Painting

Kyphrixis, the Copper Dragon

This guy was primed white through two intercontinental moves, so I felt like he needed some closure too. Here he is, the adversary of the red dragon in the last post. This is one of my favorite dragon sculpts ever.

Figure Painting

Marthrangul, Red at Last

Another Reaper Bones figure that I’ve been working on for years. This one is finally finished. I love this sculpt so much. He has a very Smaug-like sneer and I had a lot of fun painting him. Next up: his foe, Kyphrixis the Copper Dragon!

Uncategorized

Demonic Doodles

These are some fantastic critters... https://boingboing.net/2022/05/03/fantastical-demon-drawings-from-1565.html

Uncategorized

A Field Guide to Strange Medieval Monsters

Here's a fun short video with a few great, hi-res images of various critters from the Dark Ages. https://www.openculture.com/2022/03/a-field-guide-to-strange-medieval-monsters.html

D&D Monsters

The Blue-Furred Nalfeshnee, At Last

So it's been a long, long, long while at the 'Vistas...we've moved countries, among many other changes, in the last five years. Sorry for the cyclopean absence. Here's my latest effort--made in my new man-cave-type study/office/workspace/closet in Prague. Maybe