Mystery Monday: Her Voyage, Part II

My son just called me, though it's 2 a.m.,
To tell me of a message he received
At an address kept secret (All of them
Are such, but this is routed. I believe
Through -- I don't really understand this stuff, it's just
No one should have it). "Really, I know where
Aunt Kris has gone," he told me. "Do you trust
Whoever sent this?" I asked. "I don't care;
A lead's a lead." "Good point. So what's your news?"
"Afghanistan." "You're nuts. Why would she be--"
"That's not a place," my son said. "Look, we use
A code. It means she really isn't free--"
"A code?" "We made it up when I was small,
Just for some fun--" then something killed the call!

Mystery Monday: Her Voyage, Part I

She hadn't bothered checking for a name
Or destination; she just sought a ship.
She'd tailed a crewman from a poker game
As far as this one's gangplank. Thus her trip
Began. But how it ended, no one knows.
Miss Pollard hasn't e'er been seen again.
We know she stowed away, that this she chose,
From diary pages. We find, now and then,
A clue. A captain home in Trondheim spoke
Her name once in his ravings, drew her face
In charcoal, but won't speak. He'll simply smoke
His life away. And in another place,
In Maine, schoolchildren visit her in dreams
And wake up chanting. None knows what that means.

Weird Wednesday: The Color out of Sea

The diving team had found a kind of eel
That did not shock, but had its own attack
(The crew did not at first think this was real
For reasons that we'll soon explore). Way back
Had tales been told of serpents that beguiled
Both predators and prey with a display,
But seeing such a thing out in the wild?
Exciting! Soon the color made its way
(Through synthesized protein) into the realm
Of fashion, ere the scientists could halt
Development. It soon did overwhelm
World culture. In a short time this gestalt
Was fatal to the future of our race
As madness stared now from each human face.