Taking Flight
I release them. Fledglings pushed from the nest, thin-skinned and chirping. Constantly on guard for the cat and coyote. Skipping from tall grass to bush until there is enough strength to fly and feed alone. They build their nests in hidden hearts of those who discover...
Arid
Before the rains,I live in your skeleton,pressed beneath the crustof your face. I breathe the dustof powdered heartbeatsbeneath your chipped breasts,dry as bone.The spit from your lipssearing, mineralburns my throat raw. I enter youas a serpent burrowsinto desert...
Death Of The Moon
In Death of the Moon, Rick Baldwin paints a funny Southern ghost story full of termites, fire, and a funeral gone wrong.
My Top 5 Favorite Female Vocalists (2023 Version)
I grew up with a mom who was a vocalist. While she may have once dreamed of singing professionally, life took her in a different direction—marrying young and raising seven kids. As a result, her singing career mostly revolved around church solos and waking us up for...
The Specter of Red Dog Road
A Southern ghost story set in Harlan, Kentucky: Red Dog Road’s specter, a mean dog, stolen gold, and a soul trapped between heaven and hell.
Exotic Aquatic
Within me, it swims—this light-borne goldfishdefined by a translucent orb,its curve—a lie of limitsagainst the infinite ocean. Thoughts descend to the deep,silent, sinking, rusted anchor,rooting themselves nearthe pink coral castle.Small fry swirl and scattersucking...
I'm Rick Baldwin
a writer and artist whose work spans humor, horror, poetry, essays, and playwriting, often rooted in the textures of Southern life and Appalachian culture—its religion, storytelling, and quirky absurdities—my work moves between the reflective and the unsettling, the comic and the strange.
I am an award-winning cartoonist and illustrator, and the editor of The Leghorn, a humor publication dedicated to sharp, irreverent satire. My creative work also extends into podcasting, where I explore storytelling, culture, and the absurdities in between.
Originally from East Tennessee, I now live on the east side of Atlanta with my wife, where we spend much of our time searching for interesting art and fresh produce.
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