Thundersucking
A poem on energy vampires, and a new book announcement.
Feeling the shock of narcotic craving, oozing for the booze of your victim’s fright, you ampyric beings are electric. Moving only under the blackest light, under the cover of a neon night, a lightning pounce when your prey is in sight— You didn’t steal her thunder, no. Instead, you willingly sucked her excitement dry. Sinking your bolt-like teeth into a scran of greasy frequency, granular rye, down to the bones of her fingers and thigh, like others, you force her resolve to fry. What do you do when you’ve absorbed it all? Encrypt it and take it into your crypt, the carcass depleted of its power. Short-circuiting from the current you sipped, low on the empty calories you ripped, it’s time to see new batteries get stripped... You didn’t steal my thunder, no. Instead, you willingly sucked my excitement dry. Never able to saturate your cells, you leave me depleted, leave me to cry, And though, when challenged, you always deny, on my voltage—that drug—you’re getting high.
Thundersucking ~ A Poem by Tom Shaw
Something I’ve been asking myself a lot recently is “what am I creating?” in any given situation. This forces me to move away from thinking of myself as needing to take, and instead focus on what I’m able to contribute and give — and what will allow me to keep doing that. I’ve been feeling way lighter as a result, and able to see more and more difficult life situations as opportunities for creating as much value for others as I can.
There is a balance in making sure I’m not opening up myself to being prayed on by energy vampires - a task that involves boundary setting, and the acknowledgement that allowing myself to live in a continuously depleted state is also not of service to others.
I don’t remember where I first heard the term “energy vampire”, but I do remember dipping my toes into
’s work on this subject since she came to my attention in the past few years. Looking back, it’s clear I’ve been in the presence of energy vampires for much of my life, and gives me a lot of context for why I’ve felt (and still feel!) certain things around some people.I don’t think a lot of “energy vampires” realise that they’re doing what they’re doing. I also don’t think they’re doomed to a life of draining the life of others. The kind of self-inquiry, childhood trauma resolution and shedding of victim narratives that has helped me and many others (the kind we incorporate into our Over To The Youth programs!) can go a long way in preventing us from feeling the need to bring down the vibration in a social setting. That work is becoming increasingly important in societies that have encouraged and continue to encourage people to remain in victim mentality.
And I don’t think I’m the only one noticing or feeling this. Indeed, it feels like the very concept vampirism is gaining something of a resurgence in the culture and in societal consciousness — something absolutely mirrored by the public interest in the new Nosferatu remake at the start of this year (which I thoroughly enjoyed). It was after watching that film that I began sketching out ideas for a short story/novel idea involving a society made of literal energy vampires, drinking electrically-supercharged cocktails and partying to hide the pain of their un-sovereign existence. I was imagining something like Daybreakers meets A Clockwork Orange, with a few elements of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and some graphene-nanotech shenanigans thrown in to the mix.
It was (and still is) a very high-concept idea, and one that I didn’t quite have the mental bandwidth to take on when the idea first came to me. But I kept thinking about it, and one night on a bus ride from Bristol to Bath, I came up with a poetic verse around these “ampyres”. That ended up evolving into the full poem you read here today.
I’m still tempted to explore that concept further. Perhaps it still needs the idea to stew a bit more first. Either way, I’m left wondering: should we be talking about vampirism — energetically, metaphorically, by government, however else — more?
In the meantime, I’ve been working on a new poetry book, and I’m finally ready to share the details with you all.
Go Forth, Butterfly! is my favourite publication to date. In a series of poems (some you may have read on this Substack, some entirely new and never-before-seen) I encourage readers to transmute the fear responses they are encountering in their lives and go forth as the most authentic versions of themselves.
You can purchase physical copies right now from my website at a 10% discount compared to other retailers. Use the button below to take you there:
Digital versions, including an audio version, will follow soon. Ironically, I’ve been suffering from some extreme fatigue and headaches of late which has delayed recording. I hope this will come to completion within the next few weeks.
In the meantime, I’ll be doing a launch celebration on Wednesday 28th May with a live reading of some of my favourite poems of the book right here on Substack at 8pm UK Time. I’ll also be sharing some pieces and doing some signings at Labyrinth’s Open Mic Monday in Amsterdam on Monday 2nd June, which I encourage you to come along to for free if you are in the area. (EDIT: As I can no longer be in Amsterdam on this date, this in-person signing will not be taking place. Do keep an eye out for news on UK signings though!)
I hope to line up some other opportunities to share this book with you face-to-face, and I recommend subscribing if you haven’t already to be notified when something new comes up.
Thank you for supporting my work. I look forward to sharing more with you soon.
With gratitude,
Tom
