''L'unica macchia nera'' (''The One Black Stain'' in ''The Howard Collector'', 1962) (tradotta anche come ''La macchia nera'')
La poesia è stata pubblicata per la prima volta all'interno del secondo numero della rivista ''The Howard Collector'' di [[Glenn Lord]] nella primavera del 1962 dopo essere stata recuperata da un microfilm di [[Robert Hayward Barlow|R.H. Barlow]]. Secondo la cronologia di Glenn Lord gli eventi raccontati sono successivi a quelli del racconto [[La Luna dei Teschi]] dopo i quali Kane si sarebbe imbarcato al seguito di [[Francis Drake]] verso il [[Nuovo Mondo]].
This poem first appeared in The Howard Collector V1N2 Spring, 1962. A note acknowledges that the poem was from “the Barlow microfilm.” R. H. Barlow was a superfan of H. P. Lovecraft and Weird Tales writers. Mr. Barlow was directly responsible for preserving several of REH’s poems. He is deserving of a whole article and much thanks but that will have to be done another day. For now, I point you to his Wikipedia article. Barlow committed suicide due to society’s repression of homosexuals. Sadly, the progress made since Barlow’s time is in danger of being reversed.
“The One Black Stain” next appeared in Red Shadows, Donald M. Grant, 1968. In this book’s introduction Glenn Lord states: “A strip of microfilm from the effects of the late R. H. Barlow yielded the next Kane item: the poem, “The One Black Stain,” which appeared in 1962 in an amateur journal, The Howard Collector.” Why this poem was left out of the Centaur Press Solomon Kane paperback books is a real puzzle. The poem did appear in the Bantam and Baen paperbacks.
Chronologically this poem comes after “The Moon of Skulls.” Per Glenn Lord: “After returning Marylin to England, Kane accompanies Sir Francis Drake on his freebooting voyages to the New World (1566-72). It was during this time that Kane learned somewhat of craft-fighting Indians in Darien. He was likewise with Drake, on the latter’s globe-girding voyage, and, at St. Julian’s Bay (Patagonia, June 1577)…”
In Italia la poesia è stata pubblicata per la prima volta nel settembre 1979 all'interno del secondo volume della collana [[Il Libro d'Oro della Fantascienza]] edita da [[Fanucci Editore]]<ref>[https://www.fantascienza.com/catalogo/opere/NILF1039414/la-macchia-nera/ Fantascienza.com La Macchia Nera]</ref>.
