Noir Outlaw Poetry From Zombie Logic Press

Mostly I'm comfortable publishing Outsider Poetry, Surrealism, and Dada at Zombie Logic Press and Zombie Logic Review because I have what i think is an innate grasp of those styles, but the next book from Zombie Logic Press, which is now imminent, The Blood Dark Sea, is a marvelous book of Outlaw Poetry in the movie noir style. It was written by Rockford poet Dennis Gulling, a writer I have known a long time and respect very much. I'm proud to own the press that will be making the first full-length collection of this mostly unknown writer available to the world. I say mostly unknown because Dennis Gulling is mysterious, even to me. I know we both published in the small presses in the late 80's and early 90's. I know we did poetry readings together at Cafe Esperanto and other places in Rockford, and I know he is thought of by many in the know, including Mas Tequila editor Richard Vargas, and co-founder of the Outlaw Poetry movement and his mentor Todd Moore, as the region's finest poet. The poems in Blood Dark Sea will bear this high praise out. 

Just this week I got a quote for the first press run of the book, and I think if I have the energy and don't encounter any setbacks with my ongoing dental work I may have it ready for the printer as early as late next week. I can't resist just laying down a little taste here as a teaser, but also to motivate me because I know it's time for people to see this book. This is an example of the crime noir Outlaw Poetry I'm talking about.

VEGAS

The ring on her finger
Felt like a noose around her neck
So she threw everything she had
Into 3 garbage bags
While he was at work
And stuffed them into the trunk
Of her ‘78 Bonneville
Took the $200 he had in a roll
In the back of his underwear drawer
Along with the .22 automatic
He never bothered to register
She drove the 96 miles to Vegas
To work the $200 into something solid
Sold the gun for $20
At a gas station along the way
To some fat guy in a pickup truck
Loaded with old barbed wire and rusty pipes
When she hit the Golden Nugget
She didn’t even stop to check in
Turned the whole bankroll into chips
And made a beeline for the blackjack table
Walked away about an hour later
With $30 and a lump in her stomach
As hard as her luck
Didn’t have anywhere else to go
But back home
He didn’t say anything 
When she walked through the door
He didn’t have to
She went into the bedroom
Curled up on the bed
And stared a hole in the wall

Artwork from The Blood Dark Sea by Jenny Mathews

     What amazes me about the poems in this book is how elegantly they delve into some really dark subject matter, but are never once prurient, or mean-spirited. There's humanity to these observations of people in some pretty awful situations. But there's also a sense of humor and no judgement. These things happen. The Blood Dark Sea is the kind of book where you can be glad they are happening to someone else, and a poet with a keen eye and flair for the subject matter is there to report back, so to speak. 

I hope you'll check back in a few weeks when it is available. Pin It

Rockford Poetry

I never knew being associated with the search term Rockford Poetry was important to me. Until yesterday when Jenny told me it was important to me to be associated with the search term Rockford Poetry. Because I am the most widely published poet in Rockford (even though I quit publishing in 1996) and because I have the only serious literary press in Rockford I assumed if I looked for Rockford Poetry I'd be right there.

Wrong.

Not only wasn't I right there, I wasn't anywhere 

Having  been born in Swedish American hospital, which I can all but see from the window of the building that serves as Zombie Logic Press headquarters, and having published poetry here since 1997, I feel awful that I haven't been able to make Google consider my efforts more noteworthy. I think that will change in the coming years, as I have plans to publish the first books of several up-and-coming poets from America's 3rd most dangerous city. Already I have published the first book of C.J. Campbell, and later this year we will be releasing an as-yet untitled poetry book by noir poet Dennis Gulling, a protege of Todd Moore, perhaps the most published and widely read poet the Rockford area has ever had.

After my heart surgery two years ago it became crystal clear to me I wanted to do my part to make Rockford more than just a punchline to people from other cities who only hear we have been named to another most fat, least educated, most violent or miserable list. 

I have written a piece about the history of Rockford poetry that will be published later this year. In my research for that story I found many times when poetry almost took a hold in Rockford, but eventually fizzled because of egos, in fighting, or lack of support from the community.

I'm not sure what time I have left to accomplish this, or make my contribution, but I hope to do all I can in these coming years to support the poetry scene in Rockford, which I know for a fact has numerous brave, unique, and powerful voices. 

I regret that because of Schizoid Personality Disorder and tremendous social anxiety I won't be able to do readings because it would be an honor to take the stage with some of these writers, but maybe I can use Zombie Logic Press and Zombie Logic Review to give a forum for their voices. 

Rockford Poetry

Pin It

About The Poet Thomas L. Vaultonburg

ThomasL. Vaultonburg  owns and operates Zombie Logic Press, in Rockford, IL.  Thomas is available for readings and workshops. Born in 1969, Thomas L. Vaultonburg grew up in the shadows of the Byron Nuclear plant. Despite this, or possibly because of it, he went on to have a distinguished career as a child, including winning three consecutive Presidential Physical Fitness Awards.

                   

                         The poet Thomas L. Vaultonburg 2026

Thomas L. Vaultonburg began publishing poetry in the small press scene at age 19, and encouraged by poets like Ron Androla, Gerald Locklin, Todd Moore and Charles Bukowski, soon wracked up an impressive list of publications before he dropped out of the publishing scene altogether to pursue a career in the restaurant/bar business, where he worked 12 years as a bartender, bouncer, and finally owned his own bar, Castaways, with his brother Dan. Since 1997 Vaultonburg's poetry can only be read at Zombie Logic Press.

Thomas L. Vaultonburg is a poet, actor, editor, screenwriter, bloggist, painter and founder of the Zombie Party (Z). He unsuccessfully ran for Winnebago County Coroner twice, but undeterred by his crushing defeats has set his site on statewide office in 2012. He is a lover of the Chicago Cubs, Devo, Tab Cola, and Women's Flat Track Roller Derby.

PeriodicalPublications:

• Exquisite Corpse
• Karamu 1990
• Red Cedar Review
• Pearl, Paper Radio
• Chiron Review
• Onionhead
• Minotaur
• Slipstream 1991
• Sulphur River Literary Review
• Fox Cry
• Trestle Creek Review
• Caliban 1995
• The Rockford Review
• Black Buzzard review
• Black Bear review
• Black Moon 1996-1997
• Bogg
• Abbey
• Gargoyle
• Lilliput Review
• The Plastic Tower
• Yefief 1197-present
• Danse Macabre 2011

Awards, Fellowships, Grants and Honors:

• Listed member of Poets and Writers Directory
• Listed actor on Internet Movie Data Base IMDb
  

Book Publications:

• Concave Buddha by Thomas L. Vaultonburg  1991 The Press of the Third Mind Chicago
• Detached Retinas by Thomas L. Vaultonburg  ISBN 0=9670191-0-9 Zombie Logic Press Byron, Illinois 1997
• Flesh Wounds by Thomas L. Vaultonburg  ISBN 0-9670191-1-7 Zombie Logic Press Rockford, IL 61103
• Submerged Structure by Thomas L. Vaultonburg  ISBN 0-960191-3-3 Zombie Logic Press Rockford, IL 61103
• Toughskin Rhinoceros Wrangler by Thomas L. Vaultonburg Illustrated by Jenny Mathews ISBN 0967019141 Zombie Logic Press Rockford, IL 61103

The poet Thomas L. Vaultonburg perhaps pissing on a wall.

Thomas L. Vaultonburg is a poet, publisher, editor, and writer living in Rockford, Illinois. Born in 1969 and raised near Byron, Illinois, Vaultonburg began publishing poetry in the independent small press at age 19. His early work appeared in literary magazines including Exquisite Corpse, Chiron Review, Slipstream, Gargoyle, Lilliput Review, and numerous other small press publications.

In 1997 he founded Zombie Logic Press, an independent publishing house devoted to poetry, outsider literature, children's books, and work that might otherwise have difficulty finding a home. Over nearly three decades, Zombie Logic Press has published writers and artists from Rockford and around the country while remaining stubbornly independent.

Vaultonburg's books include Concave Buddha (1991), Detached Retinas (1997), Flesh Wounds (2011), Submerged Structure (2012), Atrocious Poems A to Z (2017), Moonscape (2022), Tea With the Tigress (2023), Small Songs for Weary Travelers (2023), and Vanished Roads (2026), as well as other poetry and children's projects. His poetry has continued to appear in literary journals and haiku publications in the United States and internationally.

In recent years Vaultonburg has increasingly concentrated on haiku and short-form poetry, particularly poems concerned with nature, memory, grief, place, and the strange moments hiding inside ordinary life. In 2026 he published Vanished Roads, a collection of 104 haiku illustrated by Tré, through Wolf Twin Books.

Rockford itself has remained one of the persistent subjects running through his work. Through the Rockford Blog, Zombie Logic Blog, photography collaborations, local-history writing, and other projects, Vaultonburg has spent years documenting the city's landmarks, oddities, forgotten places, artists, businesses, characters, and stories. His collaborative project Haiku You! with Rockford photographer Ryan Davis combines photography and haiku created from years of walking through the city together.

Before returning his attention primarily to writing and publishing, Vaultonburg spent more than a decade working in bars and restaurants. He eventually became General Manager of Castaways On the Rock, the dive bar under a bridge where he organized events including Zombie Night and helped turn an unlikely location into a gathering place for part of Rockford's creative community. The Rockford Rage women's flat-track roller derby league was organized there during its earliest days.

More than thirty-five years after he first began sending poems into the small press wilderness, Vaultonburg is still writing, publishing books, documenting Rockford, and pursuing projects that reasonable people might have abandoned long ago.

He also remains a Chicago Cubs fan, proving that some hopeless causes are permanent.

Pin It