Novels, Short Stories and Poetry By Greg Ceci
Books By Author Greg Ceci
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Jane Dohe - A Novel By Greg CeciComing Soon!
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Short Stories By Author Greg Ceci
Out Of Body Out Of Time - © 2026 Greg Ceci
“Dad, mom? What's going on? Why am I up here? Wait a minute...how am I up here? It feels like I'm floating? How am I floating? Why does it sound like you're both under water. This is weird but kind of cool. Whoa! I don't look so hot. Wait...did you just say take him to emergency? I can barely hear you. Where is that golden light coming from? It's so soft and fuzzy. Wait, I see someone in the light. I'm going to go see who it is.”
All a young boy wants to do is play baseball on a sunny Saturday summer afternoon with his best mates - at least that was true for one such little tyke named Steven Kane, who doggedly schlepped his sorry self through a week of school just to ride the waves of turbid twelve year old emotions, either to bask in weekend little league glory or nurse a crushing defeat and heartbreak. One fine week leading up to one such weekend began on a dour note for Steve and got increasingly worse, spiralling down a vortex of the unknown, unfamiliar and uncharted.
All a young boy wants to do is play baseball on a sunny Saturday summer afternoon with his best mates - at least that was true for one such little tyke named Steven Kane, who doggedly schlepped his sorry self through a week of school just to ride the waves of turbid twelve year old emotions, either to bask in weekend little league glory or nurse a crushing defeat and heartbreak. One fine week leading up to one such weekend began on a dour note for Steve and got increasingly worse, spiralling down a vortex of the unknown, unfamiliar and uncharted.
Three Minutes - © 2026 Greg Ceci
Tim gripped the bars of his cell as if his life depended on it. With a boot licking smile and greasy face protruding between the bars, he clenched them like a mechanic grips a wrench right before loosening a stubborn bolt. With a confident, solid, even grip - not a nervous, over exaggerated squeeze that burns muscles quickly. As he often does, he struck up a conversation with his favourite officer Travis while he walked his rounds. This time it was a whispered one-way offer and opportunity for his preferred guard. Travis was a decent dude in a place full of power tripping, jacked up steroid monkey mullet-heads. He was an honest hard working family man that actually still believed in the American dream and treated everyone with respect and empathy. He was also a bonafide medalled war hero that single handedly saved an entire platoon of men and women. As a result, almost all the inmates loved him, which in turn drew daggers and venom from some of the other correctional officers.
As Travis approached, Tim held his finger perpendicular to his saccharine smile in the universal request to remain quiet as he unloaded in a hushed tone, barely audible so only Travis would hear.
As Travis approached, Tim held his finger perpendicular to his saccharine smile in the universal request to remain quiet as he unloaded in a hushed tone, barely audible so only Travis would hear.
The Ox And The Doe - © 2025 Greg Ceci
The Ox was tired and sore from a long day of heavy toil and slowly grazed the cloying grass and sweet wildflowers at the fence line of the farm. For the most part, he was generally a happy and contented Ox. By all his accounts, his farmer cared for him and provided everything he needed but he did work the Ox hard...but that's what oxen do or so this particular Ox thought. It was at that time as the Ox chewed and chewed that a cute little Doe emerged out of the forest adjacent to the farmland and struck up a conversation one fine summer evening.
The Doe queried, “Why are you behind a fence Ox?”
The Ox paused his mastication for a brief moment and replied, “This is where I live. It's called a farm. I work here every day and the farmer takes care of me. He feeds and gives me a place to sleep. I work for him and he takes care of all my needs. This is the way of an Ox.”
The Ox resumed his chewing when a puzzled look came over the Doe's face as she continued, “Sounds more like a prison to me Ox. What do you do when you're not working?Are you never allowed beyond the fence?”
Slightly offended the Ox gruffed, “No, never beyond the fence but the farmer provides all that I need. I work a lot and when I'm not working, I graze and rest. What more does an Ox require?”
“Very strange,” replied the Doe. “How about freedom and the right to choose? As you can see I'm not confined and free to roam anywhere I please. My friends and I provide for ourselves and help each other survive and thrive so we've no need of the hairless monkeys. I can choose, you cannot. I can roam, you cannot beyond your fence line. I can run and play with my forest friends, you cannot. Do you not want to be free and make your own choices? Do you ever wonder what's beyond the farm you're confined to?”
The Doe queried, “Why are you behind a fence Ox?”
The Ox paused his mastication for a brief moment and replied, “This is where I live. It's called a farm. I work here every day and the farmer takes care of me. He feeds and gives me a place to sleep. I work for him and he takes care of all my needs. This is the way of an Ox.”
The Ox resumed his chewing when a puzzled look came over the Doe's face as she continued, “Sounds more like a prison to me Ox. What do you do when you're not working?Are you never allowed beyond the fence?”
Slightly offended the Ox gruffed, “No, never beyond the fence but the farmer provides all that I need. I work a lot and when I'm not working, I graze and rest. What more does an Ox require?”
“Very strange,” replied the Doe. “How about freedom and the right to choose? As you can see I'm not confined and free to roam anywhere I please. My friends and I provide for ourselves and help each other survive and thrive so we've no need of the hairless monkeys. I can choose, you cannot. I can roam, you cannot beyond your fence line. I can run and play with my forest friends, you cannot. Do you not want to be free and make your own choices? Do you ever wonder what's beyond the farm you're confined to?”
The Big Decision - © 2025 Greg Ceci
Although my final stroll with Charles was not a lengthy one, it was paced off deep in thought about the weighty choice ahead. A divine prize that comes with heavy responsibilities and hefty consequences. We walked quietly, Charles respecting my desire to stay silent while my guts worked overtime churning up some anxiety, my mind raced along like a burning calamity and my heart yearned for simpler times spent with friends and family.
Before I died and like most people, I had theories on what an afterlife might look like. However, when that fateful day came there was no one to greet me and I earnestly didn't know I was dead. No one to help me, no one to guide me or explain what's going on and certainly no pearly gates or eternal hell fires. Initially, I thought I was simply dreaming and would awake in my bed in my house in my quiet little country town to my simple little country life.
At first, all was dark and silent for what seemed like an eternity – pun intended. I was lying on a floor. A cold cement floor. I sat up and then stood up expecting the usual protest from my old time-worn body but it strangely didn't come. Off in the distance a door opened, the light rushed in silhouetting a lone figure and violated the dark like an assault and battery. The door swung shut with a reverberating clank and the blackness swallowed up all the light.
Before I died and like most people, I had theories on what an afterlife might look like. However, when that fateful day came there was no one to greet me and I earnestly didn't know I was dead. No one to help me, no one to guide me or explain what's going on and certainly no pearly gates or eternal hell fires. Initially, I thought I was simply dreaming and would awake in my bed in my house in my quiet little country town to my simple little country life.
At first, all was dark and silent for what seemed like an eternity – pun intended. I was lying on a floor. A cold cement floor. I sat up and then stood up expecting the usual protest from my old time-worn body but it strangely didn't come. Off in the distance a door opened, the light rushed in silhouetting a lone figure and violated the dark like an assault and battery. The door swung shut with a reverberating clank and the blackness swallowed up all the light.
Poetry By Greg Ceci
A War Of One - © 2025 Greg Ceci
There's a dim lonely one lane path through the forest of one's mind
It twists, it turns, goes up and down emerging at last to find
A stark place, a darker space of dubiety running blind
A long and lonesome old dirt road leaves the inner voice maligned
A struggle begins and rages on an age old battle ensues
Betwixt love and light and the jet black night that's deep inside of you
A warrior's stance, a samurai's stare at the mirror of the soul
Past reflections are course corrections like a captain avoids a shoal
An heinous much maligned force offers an alluring loop hole
An heroic dive in turbid waters where fortune favours the bold
An Archangel breathes bravado hope and new life there within
Betwixt the lines of love and dread that's the way it's always been
Stygian charms can cause harm but resistance is the key
Simian ways chase peace away with carnal days foreseen
A struggle to keep Old Nick at bay with no where left to flee
A crisis of great gravity weighs heavy on what will be
An ancient epic dichotomous clash deep within a psyche
Betwixt mythologic deities Ares and Aphrodite
Back and forth it goes betwixt Draco and the white knight
Fire flashes while steel slashes in quite a frightful fight
A pick between the sun on high and minacious twilight
A trick of tales both past and future discovered in the plight
A clash of armies that roam the night and rule the waking day
Betwixt a baleful bombastic blight and a righteous selfless way
Hither thither from post to pillar forced to reminisce
To and fro vacillating from doom and back to bliss
A chat with death and all things foul putrid and remiss
A demented walk with insanity staring straight into the abyss
A tippy-toed high wire show that's at best a hit and miss
Betwixt the inner voices vying for victory and conquest
Betwixt antediluvian ghosts which are at one's behest
It twists, it turns, goes up and down emerging at last to find
A stark place, a darker space of dubiety running blind
A long and lonesome old dirt road leaves the inner voice maligned
A struggle begins and rages on an age old battle ensues
Betwixt love and light and the jet black night that's deep inside of you
A warrior's stance, a samurai's stare at the mirror of the soul
Past reflections are course corrections like a captain avoids a shoal
An heinous much maligned force offers an alluring loop hole
An heroic dive in turbid waters where fortune favours the bold
An Archangel breathes bravado hope and new life there within
Betwixt the lines of love and dread that's the way it's always been
Stygian charms can cause harm but resistance is the key
Simian ways chase peace away with carnal days foreseen
A struggle to keep Old Nick at bay with no where left to flee
A crisis of great gravity weighs heavy on what will be
An ancient epic dichotomous clash deep within a psyche
Betwixt mythologic deities Ares and Aphrodite
Back and forth it goes betwixt Draco and the white knight
Fire flashes while steel slashes in quite a frightful fight
A pick between the sun on high and minacious twilight
A trick of tales both past and future discovered in the plight
A clash of armies that roam the night and rule the waking day
Betwixt a baleful bombastic blight and a righteous selfless way
Hither thither from post to pillar forced to reminisce
To and fro vacillating from doom and back to bliss
A chat with death and all things foul putrid and remiss
A demented walk with insanity staring straight into the abyss
A tippy-toed high wire show that's at best a hit and miss
Betwixt the inner voices vying for victory and conquest
Betwixt antediluvian ghosts which are at one's behest
Morning Meditation - © 2026 Greg Ceci
Let your mind float on the breeze
Feel it soar with grace and ease
And visit a place where all is light
Visit that place and take off in flight
Let the voyage defy space and time
Feel your worries slip and slide
Away
Far away for another day
Far away so your soul can play
Let it fill you with rays of love
Feel the will to be like a dove
Flying high in tranquility
Flying high in harmony
Let your intent be kind
Let your heart be benign
Let all life be a shrine
Let your life shine
Let peace be your guide today
Feel it rise in an airy ballet
An arial dance to the beat of wings
An arial dance where new hope springs
Eternal
Let your spirit drift down like a feather
Feel a gracious new benevolent manner
Guide you through the rest of today
Guide your essence wherever it may
Namaste
To view Morning Meditation set to music and video visit:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1944904992987220
Feel it soar with grace and ease
And visit a place where all is light
Visit that place and take off in flight
Let the voyage defy space and time
Feel your worries slip and slide
Away
Far away for another day
Far away so your soul can play
Let it fill you with rays of love
Feel the will to be like a dove
Flying high in tranquility
Flying high in harmony
Let your intent be kind
Let your heart be benign
Let all life be a shrine
Let your life shine
Let peace be your guide today
Feel it rise in an airy ballet
An arial dance to the beat of wings
An arial dance where new hope springs
Eternal
Let your spirit drift down like a feather
Feel a gracious new benevolent manner
Guide you through the rest of today
Guide your essence wherever it may
Namaste
To view Morning Meditation set to music and video visit:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1944904992987220
Stubborn - © 2025 Greg Ceci
Hope is as stubborn now as doubt was in the past
A tightrope between what's never been and what can never last
A firestorm of what once was and what shall come to pass
A dervish swarm to lash the captain's wheel to the mast
Love is as stubborn now as hate was at one time
A whirl winded thinly skinned plundering paradigm
A violent swirling tempest storm of wonder and wide eyes
A sterling silver silence of a pale-faced pantomime
Sophistication is as stubborn now as naivete yesterday
A slack jaw stiff necked gaze of terror and dismay
A smack talking jabber-walking error gone astray
A back handed blanked out cheque that can't be cashed today
Stubborn is a lame excuse
Stubborn is a heart's desire
Stubborn is a lone recluse
Stubborn is a neurotic liar
Stubborn is a hangman's noose
Stubborn is a funeral pyre
Honesty is as stubborn now as the lies that came before
A slippery stroll across thin ice to new uncharted shores
A prickly sticky war of words spring pitfalls and trap doors
A cryptic under handed trick nobody would ever ask for
Stubborn is a hungry vulture
Stubborn is a country torn
Stubborn is a counter culture
Stubborn is a crown of thorns
Stubborn is a stoney sculpture
Stubborn is an oath once sworn
Humility is as stubborn now as bravado used to be
A fine line between what's shown and what's inside of thee
A common crime of common folk resulting in a plea
A knock kneed uncommon time of collective apathy
Wonder is as stubborn now as contempt in yesteryear
A double sided dagger on the verge of a new frontier
A double trouble scourge shifting to a higher gear
A bubble bursting purge from the manufactured fear
Stubborn is a loser's heart
Stubborn is an abuser's sin
Stubborn is a brand new start
Stubborn is a waltz's spin
Stubborn is a witch's art
Stubborn is a snitch's grin
Truth is as stubborn now as falsity once was
A razor's edge between for sure and simply just because
A single minded laser focus digging in its claws
A blind sided hocus-pocus dream that never was
A tightrope between what's never been and what can never last
A firestorm of what once was and what shall come to pass
A dervish swarm to lash the captain's wheel to the mast
Love is as stubborn now as hate was at one time
A whirl winded thinly skinned plundering paradigm
A violent swirling tempest storm of wonder and wide eyes
A sterling silver silence of a pale-faced pantomime
Sophistication is as stubborn now as naivete yesterday
A slack jaw stiff necked gaze of terror and dismay
A smack talking jabber-walking error gone astray
A back handed blanked out cheque that can't be cashed today
Stubborn is a lame excuse
Stubborn is a heart's desire
Stubborn is a lone recluse
Stubborn is a neurotic liar
Stubborn is a hangman's noose
Stubborn is a funeral pyre
Honesty is as stubborn now as the lies that came before
A slippery stroll across thin ice to new uncharted shores
A prickly sticky war of words spring pitfalls and trap doors
A cryptic under handed trick nobody would ever ask for
Stubborn is a hungry vulture
Stubborn is a country torn
Stubborn is a counter culture
Stubborn is a crown of thorns
Stubborn is a stoney sculpture
Stubborn is an oath once sworn
Humility is as stubborn now as bravado used to be
A fine line between what's shown and what's inside of thee
A common crime of common folk resulting in a plea
A knock kneed uncommon time of collective apathy
Wonder is as stubborn now as contempt in yesteryear
A double sided dagger on the verge of a new frontier
A double trouble scourge shifting to a higher gear
A bubble bursting purge from the manufactured fear
Stubborn is a loser's heart
Stubborn is an abuser's sin
Stubborn is a brand new start
Stubborn is a waltz's spin
Stubborn is a witch's art
Stubborn is a snitch's grin
Truth is as stubborn now as falsity once was
A razor's edge between for sure and simply just because
A single minded laser focus digging in its claws
A blind sided hocus-pocus dream that never was
The Apparition - © 2025 Greg Ceci
The note falls from her trembling hand
A murmur from a nebulous wraith
Drains all her colour and turns her bland
An indistinct phantom in tattered pall
Crushes the room into nothing at all
On flimsy breath she draws spoilt air
An astonishing gasp leaves her baffled
And bemused he's standing right there
Indistinct hands reach for a tear stained face
Casting nary a shadow on her infinite grace
Watery eyes reflect both grief and wonder
Her lover returns, an already
Broken heart battered asunder
An incubus vision or dreadful nightmare
She invokes signum crucis reciting a prayer
This ghost who once held her close and tight
Whispers Spiritus Ubi Vult Spirat
Spirits blow where they may – sorry about the fright
I was anserine, impetuous and regret the act of
Scrawling my John Henry to seal a death pact
Why did thy do it she pleaded and shrieked
Alone and scared with unbounded sorrow
Flustered, blustered and rosy-red-cheeked
Twas it something I did, twas it something I said?
Twas it my actions that brought you such dread?
Twas not thy fault precious and noble Kate
Thy ravishing beauty soothes mine view
Tis I alone who's to blame for my fate
Don't damn thy self for my transgressions
I've come back to offer thee a full confession
There's no doubt in my heart thy love is pure
But I waltzed with emotions which led astray
A moment of failure, no eluding allure
A scoundrel, a liar is what I'd become
To primal desire I regretfully succumbed
How could thy do so she wailed and screamed
Sworn to the other by nuptials spoken
Passion unbridled, love unrivalled or so it had seemed
Why dost thy return to plunge a blade in my back
With a message so callous, a visit so black
Condemned to the ether til the matter is straight
A preternatural sojourn professing love
While conceding a foolishly grave mistake
Eternity is age-long to tow such a weight
I beg thee forgive me mine beloved Kate
Fresh tears mar a poignant porcelain face
Rage and disgust efface shock and sorrow
No disregarding the anguish and disgrace
Nevermore dost I absolve thee of thine immoral affair
Tis thy cross alone thou shalt have to bear
Alas! Haunted with ignominy even in death
A spectre of shame verily shrouds my soul
A torturous spooking beyond mine last breath
A hereafter adrift within purgatory's gates
Rue and dishonour my only cellmates
Eternal penitence for hurt caused thou to
Dear sweet Kate I forever bid thee adieu
A murmur from a nebulous wraith
Drains all her colour and turns her bland
An indistinct phantom in tattered pall
Crushes the room into nothing at all
On flimsy breath she draws spoilt air
An astonishing gasp leaves her baffled
And bemused he's standing right there
Indistinct hands reach for a tear stained face
Casting nary a shadow on her infinite grace
Watery eyes reflect both grief and wonder
Her lover returns, an already
Broken heart battered asunder
An incubus vision or dreadful nightmare
She invokes signum crucis reciting a prayer
This ghost who once held her close and tight
Whispers Spiritus Ubi Vult Spirat
Spirits blow where they may – sorry about the fright
I was anserine, impetuous and regret the act of
Scrawling my John Henry to seal a death pact
Why did thy do it she pleaded and shrieked
Alone and scared with unbounded sorrow
Flustered, blustered and rosy-red-cheeked
Twas it something I did, twas it something I said?
Twas it my actions that brought you such dread?
Twas not thy fault precious and noble Kate
Thy ravishing beauty soothes mine view
Tis I alone who's to blame for my fate
Don't damn thy self for my transgressions
I've come back to offer thee a full confession
There's no doubt in my heart thy love is pure
But I waltzed with emotions which led astray
A moment of failure, no eluding allure
A scoundrel, a liar is what I'd become
To primal desire I regretfully succumbed
How could thy do so she wailed and screamed
Sworn to the other by nuptials spoken
Passion unbridled, love unrivalled or so it had seemed
Why dost thy return to plunge a blade in my back
With a message so callous, a visit so black
Condemned to the ether til the matter is straight
A preternatural sojourn professing love
While conceding a foolishly grave mistake
Eternity is age-long to tow such a weight
I beg thee forgive me mine beloved Kate
Fresh tears mar a poignant porcelain face
Rage and disgust efface shock and sorrow
No disregarding the anguish and disgrace
Nevermore dost I absolve thee of thine immoral affair
Tis thy cross alone thou shalt have to bear
Alas! Haunted with ignominy even in death
A spectre of shame verily shrouds my soul
A torturous spooking beyond mine last breath
A hereafter adrift within purgatory's gates
Rue and dishonour my only cellmates
Eternal penitence for hurt caused thou to
Dear sweet Kate I forever bid thee adieu