HATED
By
Ethan McGuire
Hungry eyes shift, bloodthirsty, toward
all others who have ichor in their veins.
Tomorrow brings another chance, but why try again?
Everything will be made right with just another taste!
Damned, there will always be others who hold more blood than I.
OH DEATH
After Roud Folk Song Index #4933
1.
Examining blue
fingertips . . .
I feel his tearing teeth
cut through my flesh.
I sense his curling tongue
upon my bones.
His weathered fingers grope--
in white skin: flush!
His rotten arms surround
my neck—it burns!
2.
“Oh, Death, you’ve found me
laid out in my bed--
you’re/damned hungry too,
that much is far too clear.
What can I get you?
Other men? Go feed
on them—my sinful peers--
that's only fair.”
3.
Skeleton rattling, Death
laughs hoarsely.
“What can you buy me,
mortal man? Those other men?
A herd of cattle? Rivers’ fish?
Ha! Hardly!
Gnawed bones fill graves;
I come right back again.”
4.
“Then my soul is yours.
I am your slave.”
“God damn your soul! And it
won’t matter if you’re brave.”
I wince—at black saliva
pooling—at his lips . . .
SHOT THROUGH A WINDOW
In knowing a man lingered
at windows far too long--
longing for a future
unclear and uncertain--
a bullet from the past
found its malicious mark
in the center of the brain
of a clear present.
In the center of that brain
now lay a valley steep--
a disconnect/divide--
where once there was harmony--
between left and right
hemispheres, disarmed.
Ethan McGuire is a writer and a healthcare cybersecurity professional whose essays, fiction, poetry, reviews, song lyrics, and translations have appeared in Anti-Heroin Chic, The Dark Sire, Emerald Coast Review, Literary Matters, New Verse News, New Verse Review, and many other publications. He is also the author of an art and poetry chapbook, Songs for Christmas: Twelve Poems and Pictures for Winter and Yuletide. Ethan lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana with his wife and their children. To find Ethan McGuire and his writing, you may visit his website, TheFlummoxed.com, where you can contact him, see publication updates, find new work, and more.
By
Ethan McGuire
Hungry eyes shift, bloodthirsty, toward
all others who have ichor in their veins.
Tomorrow brings another chance, but why try again?
Everything will be made right with just another taste!
Damned, there will always be others who hold more blood than I.
OH DEATH
After Roud Folk Song Index #4933
1.
Examining blue
fingertips . . .
I feel his tearing teeth
cut through my flesh.
I sense his curling tongue
upon my bones.
His weathered fingers grope--
in white skin: flush!
His rotten arms surround
my neck—it burns!
2.
“Oh, Death, you’ve found me
laid out in my bed--
you’re/damned hungry too,
that much is far too clear.
What can I get you?
Other men? Go feed
on them—my sinful peers--
that's only fair.”
3.
Skeleton rattling, Death
laughs hoarsely.
“What can you buy me,
mortal man? Those other men?
A herd of cattle? Rivers’ fish?
Ha! Hardly!
Gnawed bones fill graves;
I come right back again.”
4.
“Then my soul is yours.
I am your slave.”
“God damn your soul! And it
won’t matter if you’re brave.”
I wince—at black saliva
pooling—at his lips . . .
SHOT THROUGH A WINDOW
In knowing a man lingered
at windows far too long--
longing for a future
unclear and uncertain--
a bullet from the past
found its malicious mark
in the center of the brain
of a clear present.
In the center of that brain
now lay a valley steep--
a disconnect/divide--
where once there was harmony--
between left and right
hemispheres, disarmed.
Ethan McGuire is a writer and a healthcare cybersecurity professional whose essays, fiction, poetry, reviews, song lyrics, and translations have appeared in Anti-Heroin Chic, The Dark Sire, Emerald Coast Review, Literary Matters, New Verse News, New Verse Review, and many other publications. He is also the author of an art and poetry chapbook, Songs for Christmas: Twelve Poems and Pictures for Winter and Yuletide. Ethan lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana with his wife and their children. To find Ethan McGuire and his writing, you may visit his website, TheFlummoxed.com, where you can contact him, see publication updates, find new work, and more.
