"S. H. vs. J. M."

by W. P. A. (Walter P. Armstrong), B. S. I.


Fog surrounds the city like a shroud
          And through it pass the creatures of the night
Unsure, unsafe, fearing to speak aloud
          Engaged in hot pursuit or frantic flight.
I don my Inverness and venture out,
          Taking the second cab. Am I the fox
Or hound, the hunter or the prey? The doubt
          Is dominant, the test unorthodox:
Survival is the answer. What remains
         Determines right. It's kill or be killed.
Only this adequately explains
         Our dual role, required although unwilled.
I cannot rest. My work is incomplete
         While Moriarty walks a London street.

"HOLMES IN LIMBO"

by Carl Buchanan

Busy as a beekeeper, he trims tall stalks
for later bloom, or stalks deer
from a distance, content to trail with hawk eyes
the tail's leap. He knows he can bring one in
any time, but urgency's gone. The criminal's heyday
gave way to Crime, an amorphous activity
of a new century, now that all thieves are petty,
the Crown Jewels are devalued,
and at the spider web's center there's a void.
          --Watson come here I need you--
Say, what if Moriarty didn't die, after all?
Or my better, Mycroft, had turned his bulk
to burglary (there's a life of pursuit, in his footsteps),
or perhaps . . .
Buzz, say bees. An aged man with trim hands,
he still cuts an enigmatic figure,
waiting for a last puzzle to shape.

"THE GREATEST DETECTIVE"

by Lyndia Glover

Sherlock Holmes is known the world over
For being the greatest detective who ever lived
A crime presented him with a chance
To show his uncanny ability to solve it
He would not ignore even the faintest clue
No matter how insignificant it seemed
As he pieced together another mystery
And solved one more hideous crime!

"ELEMENTARY, MY DEAR WATSON"

by Robert R. Hentz

"You see, but you do not observe," Holmes said
To dull Dr. Watson his faithful friend
As with his mind's eye Holmes followed the thread
That directly led to the puzzle's end.
How delightful, with the good physician,
To spend some hours in peregrination
Through the byways of a bygone Britain
And share his wonder and admiration
For the peerless Holmes, his senses so keen,
His mind such a subtle thinking machine.

"THE DURABLE BUT UNOFFICIAL

CONSULTING DETECTIVE"

by Shulamith Surnamer

S ir Arthur Conan Doyle invented him
H ollywood and the stage expanded his legend artfully
E ndlessly retelling tales of the
R ed Headed League, The Engineer's Thumb,
L ady Frances Carafax's Disappearance,
0 r The Five Orange Pips, The Yellow Face,
C arbuncles Blue, The Shoscombe Old Place,
K ingly Rewards and Bruce Partington's Plans.
H oused at Two Twenty One B Baker Street
0 ften heard playing a Violin between visits
L estrade or other clients made, only one nemesis had he,
M oriarty, against whom to match wits.
E agerly did Dr. Watson assist him for without the
Science of deduction where would we all be?

MORE TO COME!