Vicious Romantic Read online

  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

  Reflects the harsh summer sun

  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

  Chills the blood with bitter fear

  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

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