Tiny waves ripple
On the algae green water
A man-made lake for tourists
Joggers pass swiftly
Walkers stroll leisurely by
Children splash in the water
Young couples embrace
And whisper to each other
Making promises of love
Rain clouds choke the sun
The last light struggles for life
As night overcomes the day
Alone in shadows
Untouched by love or beauty
A monster’s eyes hunt the lake
Slowly the joggers
The walkers and the lovers
Leave the lake for the city
A boy sits alone
Abandoned in the twilight
Tears cascading from his eyes
A Goodbye letter
Torn apart and burnt to ash
Blows from his trembling fingers
Across the listless waters
The sun drops lower
Shadows turn the water black
The sky a Stygian tomb
A strong wind stirs the waters
The boy lifts his tear soaked face
Up to the darkening sky
His wet cheeks sparkle
Like diamonds in the moonlight
By the lake, a monster waits
The promise of prey
Fantasies of blood and pain
Dissolve all hesitation
Strong, dry, calloused hands
Crush tight around the boy’s throat
A knife cuts into his back
Heavy panting breaths
Quicken in the young man’s ear
As his life falls prey to lust
Down between his thighs
The monster strokes his turgid flesh
Hands lubricated with blood
One last little death
Spurts out red into the lake
As he feels the boy’s pulse fade
Darkness devours
The shell of blood, meat and bone
That had once shed silent tears
Over unrequited love.
* * * *
Forgiveness
Among the tall weeds
Out of the mouth of a skull
A rose grows and blooms
She plants a new one each day
To say she’s sorry
Her apology withers
In the blood soaked earth
And the unforgiving sun
Where love gasped its dying breath
* * * *
Sijo (2)
Her belly ruptures full of parasites,
Her eyes sink back in her skull
Her butchered wrists, dangle
From the edge of the bathtub
Her children cuddle against her
Desperate for love she cannot give
* * * *
Trinkets
A gold wedding band
Sparkling in a nearby field
A gold crucifix
Dented and spattered in blood
Dangles from a cracked ribcage
Bleaching in the sun
Blessed symbols of his faith
In love and savior
Covered in swarms of vermin
Picking his bones clean
Maggots, ants, rats, coyotes
Return him to dust
Talismans of love and faith
Now consigned to the desert
* * * *
The Cycle of Victims
It sinks its teeth deep
Its corruption penetrates
I can’t stop smiling
I watch stoically
As it tears her flesh apart
Waiting for my turn
Raindrops smear the blood
As it washes down my face
Into my cupped palms
I drink deep of it
Suck out its bitter marrow
Continuing the cycle
* * * *
A Teen Mother’s Sorrow
She wore her sorrow
Like a Halloween fright mask
Grimacing in pain
Frizzy brittle hair
Ebon tears blacken her cheeks
Lipstick smears her mouth
Ulcerating sores
Weep pus and blood down her arms
Her secret disease
A cancerous guilt
Metastasized within her
She stumbles forward
Drooling saliva
Mumbling, cursing, and scratching
“Where is my baby?”
A ghost haunts her eyes
Suppressed memories of guilt
“Where is my baby?”
The night wind whispers
Blowing trash down dark alleys
Chasing poltergeists
An unwanted soul
A baby in a trashbag
Discarded refuse
Smiling up at her
Through unmoving moldy eyes
Covered in garbage
Smiling up at her
Wet with amniotic blood
Rigid with rigor
Smiling up at her
From the bottom of the bin
Where she left his infant corpse
* * * *
Consumption
Like warm sashimi
Paper-thin slices of you
Cut so lovingly
Melt like butter on my tongue
It is the taste of beauty
* * * *
Wendigo
Winter currents blow
A ballet of ice crystals
Pirouette to earth
In the frigid night
A howl of desperate hunger
A rustling of leaves
Something charges through the brush
Across a snow covered yard
Clawed feet rake the snow
Saliva drips like acid
From fangs stained with meat
A vicious nightmare
Walking upright like a man
Approaches the house
Outside the window
Its hot breath steaming the pane
The nightmare watches
The window shatters
As it comes for him
And savagely unmakes him
Muscle ripped from bone
Limbs torn from his torso
Screams fracture the night
Snowflakes drift softly
Blow through the shattered window
Alight gently on his corpse
And dissolve in pools of blood
* * * *
This Old House of Pain and Woe
This old house of pain and woe, tortured beams,
splintered wood, cry out in rage
Floorboards bleed, windows weep, poltergeists
shriek
Threats at the living
She covers her ears against the madness,
then adds her screams to the din
* * * *
The Rapturous Scent of Meat
Buried with the snakes
Skin covered in black widows
A pile of corpses
The unlucky ones
The tricks, gamblers and whores
The lonely tourists
Claw up through the hard dry earth
Through their own remains
Recalling their sins
Forgetting recent failures
Seduced by the lights
They stagger toward the neon
Stronger than remorse
The rapturous scent of meat
The need for release
Draws them out of the desert
To try their luck once again
* * * *
Hunter’s Moon
Savage black eyes, coarse hair,
A smile full of razors
M
uscles taunt and straining, fists clenched,
Jaw locked tight snarling
The moon turns black, a scent of sex,
A predator roars before the hunt
* * * *
Alpha and Omega
One final sunrise
For the last human on earth
Warms his trembling flesh
At peace with oblivion
He watches them come for him
* * * *
Just like Whores
He laughed at her fangs
And at her bloodless pallor
Who still believes in Vampires?
She was beautiful
A romantic dream of death
In satin and lace
Sensuous killer
Powdered corseted bosom
Cleavage splashed with red
Her black lipstick smile
Pouting like a spoiled child
Full lips like bloated leeches
Leonine canines
Rancid like an abattoir
From her last Romeo’s blood
He offered his throat
Let her drink just a little
One small taste of life
He watched her imbibe
Grotesquely slurping
Watched it trickle from her lips
Dripping down her throat
Between her lovely pale breasts
Licking her fingers
So very lovely
His blood on her swollen lips
His first vampire
So very lovely
He would have to remember
Each salacious cut
He took her slowly
Bled her of secrets and screams
He smiled contemplating
That vampires bled just like whores.
* * * *
Vicious Romantic
A bed full of flesh
Crawling with flies and maggots
Old empty wallets
Dried roses and Valentines
Melted chocolates swirled with blood
Hungry for romance
The creature licks its fingers
Its stomach rumbles
It sprays musky pheromones
Compliments, lies, and perfume
It sings a love song
While stalking desperate lovers
Eager for the kill
It camouflages itself
As diamond engagement rings
* * * *
Table of Contents
Introduction
A Note on Poetic White Space
A Note From the Publisher
Necropolis
House of Murderers
Sijo (1)
Not His Mother
The Wind Over The Water
Forgiveness
Sijo (2)
Trinkets
The Cycle of Victims
A Teen Mother’s Sorrow
Consumption
Wendigo
This Old House of Pain and Woe
The Rapturous Scent of Meat
Hunter’s Moon
Alpha and Omega
Just Like Whores
Vicious Romantic
* * * *
* * * *
* * * *
* * * *