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Christopher Hivner
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The Perpetual Motion Machine

 

 

Christopher Hivner

 

 

 

Lying rigid,

the good little soldier,

she waited

for him to finish

and roll off.

He starts to

smack her ass

as he plows through her

like a train

late for the station.

She looks into his

cold, dead eyes,

black diamond mirrors.

She looked old,

too old to still have

her legs in the air

for him.

But who is she then,

if not his wife?

Not a mother,

no children.

She never liked being

a sister or daughter,

not in her family.

He grunted.

The smacks were harder,

her skin felt hot.

Was it still her skin

or was it his now?

She tried to protest

but he didn't hear

or didn't care.

His hands moved over her breasts

pinching and pawing.

She was getting tired,

why did it always

have to hurt?

He finally came,

unloading sloppily

inside of her

and over her thigh.

His eyes shined

shaking hands

with his smile,

a reptilian circle.

She lay still,

waiting for him to get off

but he just stared at her,

as though he knew

what she

had been thinking.

 

**************

 

 

Facts about Bones

 

by Christopher Hivner

 

 

Bones are alive

when covered

with skin

 

Bones remain

after the muscle and flesh

decay

 

Bones tell stories

when found

by educated hands

 

Bones are delicious

in my soup

when I’m done with the bodies

 

Bones have to be

buried deep

so the police can’t find them

 

Bones of my victims

want to be found

but I am their master

 

 

 

More than Oxygen

 

By Christopher Hivner

 

 

It lay on the spoon,

flattened by her finger,

white flecks

that she needed

more than oxygen.

Her dry tongue

flicked between her lips,

a half-dead snake

anticipating nirvana.

She flicked her lighter,

moving it under the curve

of the utensil

but it didn’t look right,

the fire

not the right color

and then she saw a figure

in the flame

that glowed white

and hissed,

the face was featureless

but she heard it speak:

“Don’t.”

She closed the lighter,

the spoon shaking

in her other hand,

her life’s blood

spilling onto the table top.

Flick,

the flame sparked once more,

this time though

the figure undulated

in dark waves,

leaping at her

and laughing:

“It’s all you have.”

She closed the lighter,

laying the spoon down

before she dropped it.

Trembling, she caressed

the silver casing

of the lighter,

then opened it part way.

The flame was compressed,

wiggling for freedom

to grow,

reaching for the spoon

to do its job,

but around the eager

black flame

was wrapped a straining

white arm of fire

holding it back.

She lay down on the sofa

holding the lighter close,

ignoring her spoon,

denying the white net.

She closed the top,

opened it again,

closed,

open,

dazzled by the leaping flame,

orange, yellow, red, blue,

each color whispering to her.

She held it

under her hair

singeing the dirty blond ends,

the crackle

alighting in her ears,

the acrid smell

swelling in her nose.

She moved the lighter

up and down her cheek,

the flame

swaying to and fro,

licking her skin

with heat

and pain.

She closed the lighter,

opened it again

to be attacked

by her new lover

who she needed

more than oxygen.

 

 

Out of Love

 

by Christopher Hivner

 

 

 

The voice is muted in her head,

she's turned the volume off.

She watches the veins throb,

middle of his forehead,

spittle flies from

fleshy, feminine lips

and hits her on the neck

like a wet kiss,

the kind her boyfriend

gives her

while slamming her

from behind.

Her father's finger

wags closer and closer

to her nose

and her face tightens,

waiting for the

inevitable smack.

She drifts off

dreaming of doing something nice

for her man.

A vision forms

and she smiles just enough.

That earns her

an openhanded crack

across her jaw.

"What are you smilin' at?"

The remote's been broken,

the volume is back up.

Father's corpulent frame stands erect,

his hands fidgeting around his pants.

She thought for a moment

the belt was coming off.

That could mean any number

of very bad things.

But instead he goes quiet,

"No 14-year-old is going to fool me"

and then he's gone,

getting soft in his dotage

she guesses.

She's not even bleeding.

It's time to go,

boyfriend is waiting.

He'll make it all better.

When he hits her

it's out of love.



Cosmology

 

by Christopher Hivner

 

 

Dad never showed up,

I waited

but he was at home asleep.

There were no more

Saturdays together

after that,

my theory

of who I was

got rewritten that day,

my solar system

was reduced,

my orbit made tighter.

 

The teacher told my mom

I was a loner

who would never amount to anything.

I thought

I was just a shy kid,

turns out

I was pegged

by the age of 10,

a lonely rock

adrift in space,

not the right size or shape

to be anything in particular.

 

I took my demotion in stride,

eight years later

graduating with honors.

I’m told Dad was there,

he left

before saying a word to me.

I passed him

in my orbit,

his world

looked dark and void.

 

My system expanded,

a lover at my side,

a woman to understand,

a mate to build with,

a satellite

in my sky.

 

Dad died,

the lover cheated,

telescopes searched

for me

but I was hidden

among the gasses,

expelling my outer shell,

diminished to my core,

let me alone,

let me spin,

slowly,

until the red shift.

 

Continuing my search

to this day,

broke free from others’ gravity

to drift,

the answers

are in the stardust

that forms us,

I run my hand

through the silt

and wonder.



Mouth

 

by Christopher Hivner

 

 

your words don’t deflate me because

I can see them for the worms they are

squirming through holes in your teeth

and the waste they leave behind stays

on your tongue to ferment into larvae

that feed from your saliva, growing

long and thick before spilling out of

your mouth, a dead thing no one trusts














Waiting for the Black

 

by Christopher Hivner

 

 

Hand on the doorknob

waiting for the flames

that don’t just burn

but consume

in black glory,

but the steel

remains cold.

Still, I don’t

open the door,

deciding instead

that the fire

will find me eventually

and I prefer that

to my future.

 

 

 

Smiling Faces

 

by Christopher Hivner

 

 

Smiling faces

look back at me

from the picture

and I know

how I will bloody

each one.

I have a jar

to collect the teeth in,

paraffin wax

to pin the lips, noses and ears to.

I have a skewer

for the eyeballs

but best of all

I have a helium tank

for the faces

to make balloons

for handing out

at the Thanksgiving day parade.

Balloons for the kiddies,

balloons for the kiddies,

to create

more smiling faces.

 

 

 

Aquamarine

 

by Christopher Hivner

 

 

It’s a lure to the depths

but you don’t feel the danger.

Dimples of light sparkling off the waves,

act as flirtatious winks,

kisses from soft lips to the nape of your neck.

The sudden need for more from your new lover

leads you to the water’s edge,

foam lapping at your feet, sucking on your toes.

Farther in you wade,

the warm ocean swallowing your body,

tasting flesh, mixing salts,

bringing you to life with sensual rhythm.

The tingles you feel

must be the work of the ancient sea,

it couldn’t be

the teeth

of a prehistoric beast breaking your skin.

The feeling between your legs

must be a knowing tongue

not a tentacle

from the silty floor reaching inside of you

to extract what it needs to feed.

You are positive of the devotion

of your new lover

until the moment your blood

becomes your bath

and you are greeted by your insides

floating on the surface around you

bobbing in rhythm

with the light-dappled waves.

 

 

 





songvengeance.jpg
Art by Ann Marie Rhiel © 2018

A Song of Vengeance

 

by Christopher Hivner

 

 

I walked on fire

to reach the outstretched arms,

but the flames

took its price

in flesh.

Stripped to muscle and bone

I reach for my love,

my only family,

but my welcome

is rescinded.

Am I too ugly now

to love?

Was my worth counted

only by my pelt

taken by the fire below?

The outstretched arms

that beckoned from

the other side of the chasm

between us

now hang down,

flaccid and pale,

while I bleed

onto the holy soil.

I take a step forward

and my future

slips further

into shadow.

I walked on fire

to reach nirvana

only to be rejected.

Where do I go now?

I choose to go forward,

toward my former beacon,

my own flayed arms outstretched,

blackened fingers

balled into fists,

bloody tears in my eyes,

a song of vengeance

in my heart.

 

 






diggingseason.jpg
Art by Cindy Rosmus © 2018

Digging Season

 

by Christopher Hivner

 

 

The world spun under me,

the bones of others

past and further past

moaned in song

trying to tell me a secret.

Tell me a lie or a tale,

prevaricate or equivocate,

but don’t tell me your secrets.

Pile the dirt high

to cover your sins,

hide each black mark

with the verve

of a king holding court.

Don’t tell me your secrets,

or I’ll have     

to tell you mine.

lightmyenemy.jpg
Art by Ann Marie Rhiel © 2018

Sometimes the Light Is My Enemy

 

by Christopher Hivner

 

 

The rain fell in gray sheets,

I stood under it to capture

as much as I could

to use when I am lonely

in the sun.

 

 

 


lessonslearned.jpg
Art by Ann Marie Rhiel © 2019

Lessons Learned

 

by Christopher Hivner

 

 

How many times

have I thought about you?

The tilt of your smile,

the exactness of your eyes,

the way you screamed

when I closed the door

on the box.

You didn’t know it

but I was watching

by remote camera

as you pounded your fists bloody

on the splintered lid.

I found myself

losing breath

along with you

as you suffocated.

You thought I didn’t care,

that’s why you called me

those bad words,

why your eyes bled

while you wailed

my name.

You were punishing me

because you believed

I didn’t care.

When you took

your last breath

I saw the sadness

in your eyes

at how I had

disappointed you.
That look haunted me.

I’m much more caring now

with my girls.

When the light

leaves their eyes,

they pass softly

knowing they were loved,

thanks to you.

 

 

 



bonesillo.jpg
Art by Ann Marie Rhiel © 2019

Bones

 

by Christopher Hivner

 

 

Cut to the chase,

motor mouth running,

gone to the north

where the problems                         

freeze in the cold,

let me alone

or wreck my bones,

make the decision I can’t

riding with Miss Misery

and the Bad Luck Trio,

pound the drums,

no bass, no guitar,

shut the singer’s mouth,

beat the drums,

bam bam bam

they can feel that in hell

and even up north

in the frozen ground.

beserkertrain.jpg
Art by Daniel Valentin © 2019

The Berserker Train

 

by Christopher Hivner

 

 

Jump off the tracks,

here comes the Berserker Train.

Listen to that whistle blow

with the screams

of the dying,

thrill at the sight

of the box cars

decorated with the bodies of the dead,

mouths propped open

in a never-ending

moan of pain.

The whistle blows again

as the train roars down the track

at a speed that smokes the wheels,

the conductor sitting in the engine

dark hood over his face,

his deep, rumbling laugh

rolling into the hillside,

thin white fingers at the controls

while small children

shovel the bones of their parents

into the stove.

At the other end

the caboose teeters

on the edge of derailment

filled with 100 clowns,

tongues torn from infants

braided into their hair,

machetes between their teeth,

they foam at the mouth

waiting for the train to stop

for another meat hunt.

The Berserker Train

is coming to your town

on rails covered in blood.

Listen for the screams

and then run.

They love the chase.






Close Your Eyes


 


by Christopher Hivner


 


 


I have something for you


in the palm of my hand.


It hums, vibrates,


and bites.


 


This is for you,


a gift,


it’s blue and metallic,


alien-looking,


and it draws blood.


 


Try it out


it was created especially for you,


cylindrical and smooth,


it revels in the feel of your skin


before opening its jaw.


 


I hope you like it,


the way it shines


into your eyes,


burning,


so you can’t see


when it expands


its belly


to consume you.


 


I have something for you

and it’s hungry.





Say My Name


 


by Christopher Hivner


 


 


The stars shine in unison


when you speak.


Bells around the world


peal in delicate balance


as the words form on your tongue.


A mellifluous breeze


blows along the shoreline


when you say my name


 


so bite down


and say it.


I need to hear the word


to wake up,


I know you put me down,


the dirt I’m buried in


has your smell.


Open your mouth and say my name.


 


I gave the flattery you desire,


twisting my tongue


in flower petal words


to send you lightning,


my pride is deep in the earth


while my anger rises,


say my name.


 


You don’t need me,


say it.


You don’t want me,


say it.


I want out,


say the name,


say my name


with your lying mouth.





When the Sun Turns to Sorcery


 


by Christopher Hivner


 


 


A good opening


lays bare the ending


at least with stories


of lust and greed,


but what of wandering players


who don’t know


up from sideways,


who leak into the night


one cell at a time


so they can’t be seen?


Their stories


are nebulas


moving from night to day,


from standstills to searching,


part of society in the march of hours,


lost in the ether


when the Sun turns to sorcery.


The stars rotate


behind them,


the air bites,


in a bloodless affirmation


of the under being crowned


as king of velvet riches,


an empty prize,


smile and wave


to your sleeping subjects,


The opening begins


with the promise of a tale


for the saints,


until the ending


shows the truth of the night;


it is us,


minus the Sun


and its puffery,


searching for meaning


among the diamonds.




 

 

Christopher Hivner writes from a small town in Pennsylvania surrounded by books and the echoes of music. He has recently been published in Grievous Angel, Blood Moon Rising and Weird Reader. A collection of short stories, The Spaces Between Your Screams, was published by eTreasures Publishing. website: www.chrishivner.com, Facebook: Christopher Hivner - Author, Twitter: @Your_screams



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