Dread

LindaAnn LoSchiavo

When it arrives, the fatal moment, doubts
Arise. A new dimension’s violet light
Distorts all notions of supremacy held.

What trick bulldozed his breath, destroyed his pulse?

          A voice impels him: walk to the crossroads.

His past, grotesque urges, and sly face
No longer salted with surly pride,
Unburied memories now force themselves
On him, the noose of introspection tight.

Masked, he dismantled locks, left victims stunned
Or dead, throats fenced with purple neck charms,
Tattooing bruises with his savage thumbs,
Blood shrieking, sinking eyelid deep to bone.

Annihilations balanced victories
Against his crippling sense of nothingness.
 
When questioned by police – their prime suspect –
Cold calculations criminals possess
Helped him evade lax law enforcement’s grip.

          Voices command: approach the finish line.

Strange misty depths confuse his narrative –
That he’s entitled to exemptions, fear
Invading his strong body’s mineral
Swell as familiar faces fast approach.

Identified by intuition, they’re
Newsprinted names bold headlines belched about,
Eyes staring at him from eternity’s
Dustjacket, teeth peculiar – razor sharp. 

Unmentioned will be this mangled tableau.
                                                                          
         

Native New Yorker LindaAnn LoSchiavo, a Pushcart Prize, Rhysling Award, Best of the Net, and Dwarf Stars nominee, is a member of SFPA, The British Fantasy Society, and The Dramatists Guild. Elgin Award winner "A Route Obscure and Lonely," "Concupiscent Consumption," "Women Who Were Warned," Firecracker Award, Balcones Poetry Prize, Quill and Ink, and IPPY Award nominee "Messengers of the Macabre" [co-written with David Davies], "Apprenticed to the Night" [Beacon Books, 2023], and "Felones de Se: Poems about Suicide" [Ukiyoto Publishing, 2023] are her latest poetry titles.
–   –
Twitter: @Mae_Westside

LindaAnn Literary: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHm1NZIlTZybLTFA44wwdfg
✍️ �� ��  https://messengersofthemacabre.com/