Twice Sold Tales / Ballard

11/17/2025

New post on the blog:

by John MacBeath Watkins Let us think of mankind in the state of nature, a clever, naked primate living in a small troop. It finds a way to...

10/31/2025

I wrote this today:

On Being an Alien in my Homeland

By John MacBeath Watkins

I assure you, sir, that my people are no threat
to your way of life.

If you wish to subsist
on raw steak and hate,
Hey, follow your bliss.
Just don't expect me
to be part of this.

My people are curious in every sense of the word.
Some are q***r as a clockwork orange, which is a very q***r thing.

Some are insatiable, for knowledge, for experience, for the taste of adventure and ghost peppers, pursuing that wave on the horizon
until it turns into an island where the marketplace is ripe with foreign tongues.

And they will bring back their love of the world
of its peoples, its platters, its notions, and potions, and pearls,
and some will bring back its boys and its girls.

Send a message to learn more

01/14/2025

06/15/2021

From the Goodwill librarian site:

02/24/2021

New preface to my book:

I've rewritten the preface to my book, The Outlaw John Locke, in light of the events of Jan. 6, 2021. by John MacBeath Watkins Preface : A ...

02/23/2021

A question seldom asked:

by John MacBeath Watkins It seems socialism was a big issue for some voters in the 2020 election, particularly in Florida. For example, in ...