Night Of Horror

Under cover of a tree he watches little monsters. They walk by dressed
as ghosts, zombies, pirates, and vampires. He's close enough that he
could reach out and touch them, but he means no harm to these
trick-or-treaters.

He turns and walks down the street. He thinks about what will
happen tonight. For him that's a treat. He stops and gazes across
the street at her house. He thinks about her and something inside
him burns. His gaze moves to the front porch and he stares at
two jack-o-lanterns.

He crosses the street and walks up the steps to the porch passing
the smiling pumpkins. He climbs through an open window. He
lands feet first on the carpet below.

The house is dark and quiet. No one is home yet. He knows
she will come home first. The thought of her awakens his lust.

He goes upstairs to her bedroom. He hides in her closet leaving
the door ajar. This is where he will wait for her. She will come
home first. Her parents will be home much later. Behind his mask
he wears a smile. He knows it will only be a little while.

He hears the click of the front door, then foot steps running up
the stairs. The hallway is illuminated. She enters the room
and turns the light on. She goes to the other side of the room
and opens a drawer. He opens the closet door.

He steps behind her as she begins to undress. He wants this
fight to end in a mess.

She turns around and is startled when she sees him. Before
she can scream he clutches her throat. She raises a fist. She
pounds, pulls, and push on his wrist. She can't break his
grip. He raises his knife. He will do what he wants to her,
then he will take her life.

Escape Ikea

I gazed at the little piece of junk that had no room for anymore books.
I told Leah I needed new bookshelves. For a moment we thought to ourselves.
After some discussion we didn’t know exactly to look for, but we had an idea.
We decided to go to Ikea.

Upon our arrival we were drawn in and seduced by furniture. Everywhere we looked we saw examples of perfection and the future. As we fought our way through the sofas and the beds; we saw displays that showed us what our homes would look like if we lived at Ikea. We looked at our watches and decided to stick to our original idea.

We found the bookshelves and picked a nice one. We thought we were done. We followed the arrows on the floor. We were led past more bedroom displays. I looked up at three dressers that tempted me like beautiful hoes. That reminded me; I also needed a new one of those. We found one that I liked. We knew we needed a shopping cart so, we hiked. We rode the escalator down to the first floor. We took a cart and went through an open door.

I pushed the cart as I followed Leah. She was running out of time so we couldn’t stray from our idea. We soon discovered it was almost impossible to escape Ikea. I followed her as she looked at cute little jars and knick-knacks. It was hard to turn the cart around and I bumped a couple of shelves, but it was only two gentle whacks.

What was Leah doing? Didn’t she say she was in a hurry? This is where things got harry. We weren’t the only shoppers. There were parents, babies, and teenyboppers. It was hard to get around other people. I lost sight of Leah. Oh great! Now I was getting anxious at Ikea.

I saw Leah, but getting to her would take me a while. The people in front of me were unaware of other shoppers. They stopped what they were doing and blocked the isle. I navigated the maze of Ikea. I slowly found my way back to Leah. We collected her items. Now it was time to get my items.

We wondered into a much bigger part of the store. We felt tiny when we realized we were in a giant warehouse. The smell of wood and saw dust confirmed that we were in a warehouse. We found my bookcase on a shelf in a long cardboard box. We needed help, but there was no man. Leah hatched a plan. I would hold the cart still while she reached for the box. Maybe we should’ve brought an ox. She maneuvered the box into the cart. It had been heavy. She needed to wait a minute and take a breather. Next, we moved on to the dresser. That was even heavier. We followed the same plan. We got this; man.

Now it was time to check out. It was a self service check out register. That meant it took us five minutes to figure out how to use it. Compared to the battle we just fought; this was only a little bit.

Now it was all over. We could make our exit. We could go back to the – oops! Where did we park the car? Oh no. That’s too far. I sat in the waiting area with the cart while Leah went for the car. I wondered how we would get these into the car. Again, I felt anxious. I looked around and wished this place had a bar. Leah returned with the car.

Leah popped the trunk and lowered the back seat. Getting these into the car wouldn’t be easy. We tried to make a plan while standing in the heat. We were stumped. We didn’t know what to do. That’s when an Ikea employee came to our rescue. He offered to help. He was tall and strong. Leah smiled and looked at him long. We watched him as he easily picked up the dresser and placed it neatly in the trunk. Next, he picked up the bookcase and laid it down on top of the dresser then slid it through the trunk into the back seat. We thanked him. He was off to rescue another damsel in distress. I closed the trunk. We climbed into the car and both sighed with relief as we finally escaped Ikea.

MY COOKING TEACHER

MY COOKING TEACHER

He greets me with a thick Swedish accent.
The fact that he's on television is no accident.
He's wearing his apron and chef’s hat.
He want's to teach me how to cook a meal.
I watch this funny little man and wonder;
what's the deal?

I listen intently but don't understand a word he's saying.
Is he just playing? His large hands throw food and untencils
around the room like he doesn't care about these things. I think
someone's just pulling his strings.

The lesson continues. It's in the same place every time.
He doesn't like to change venues. He answers questions but that seams
pointless. At least he's not relentless. Don't get me wrong. I like
the guy but cooking with him can some times be a Bordon. It sounds
like he's saying the same thing over and over again.
“hurgen burgen yergen..”

MOM'S MONSTER

I awoke to the sound of Mom and Dad fighting. I
wished I had still been sleeping. I heard talk of
murder. Did Dad really want to kill her?

Chaos had begun without warning. Dad stormed out
of the house in anger that morning. Mom called her brother.
We needed to leave in a hurry. The adults
were in a furry.

I had been told that Mom was mentally ill.
I didn’t understand why she couldn’t treat it like
a cold and fix it with a pill.

That night I caught a glimpse of her monster.
I felt her daemons when she stood in
the middle of my Uncle’s living room saying “This room
gives me visions”.

I found it hard to sleep that night. I was full of
confusion and fright. The next morning Mom seemed
alright. Her monster was nowhere in sight. We took a walk.
She asked me to go back for her purse. I should’ve seen it
coming. Instead, I was too busy being polite and smiling.
I went back for her purse. When I got back to the corner
she was gone. Her disappearance confirmed my fears.
I was blinded by tears.

I went back to my Uncle’s house
and told him what happened. He called the rest of
the family and formed a search party. Mom was found
standing on the highway yelling at cars. She was brought
safely back to the house. Dad came later that day to take me home.

The next day we checked Mom into a place where she’d be
staying for a while. That’s when I understood that Mom
was mentally ill. She couldn’t be fixed with a pill.
This new insight filled me with fear. Mom’s monster
was here.

INTO THE DARKNESS

My poetry writing group decided to write about legends and myths. To me the ultimate myth and legend are comic book superheroes. That's what this poem is about.

He seeks no reward. No one

Knows his name. He does this job

all the same. Darkness is his suit.

Darkness is his weapon. He strikes

fear into many hearts but he is no

villian.

When duty calls, he dons his

cape and mask. He won't rest

until he completes his task. A

symbol in the sky is how he knows

his city is in need. In his secret lair

he finds his faithful steed.

An engine roars to life as

rider and vehicle become one.

There is a job that must be

done. With haste and speed

he flies from his cave into

danger, into the night,

into the darkness.

HISS AND SCRATCH

She sits alone in a cage crying for attention.
I open the door and reach to her. There's
something that she fails to mention.
She doesn't like hands reaching, touching, caressing.
When I reach to her she hisses and scratches.

Her eyes are always on me. It's like she needs to know
where I'm at. I move the furniture to clean her cage and
feed her. She hisses and scratches. "I'm just trying to feed you.
You crazy cat."

Someone told me that the back scratcher calms her down.
I pick up the back scratcher and slowly reach out to her again.
She hisses and scratches.

I've all but given up making friends with this cat.
That's when Julie says "well if ya use the back
scratcher she's fine."

LEND ME YOU

Lend me your eyes so that

you may see. Lend me your

ears so that you may hear.

You soul you must keep.

That's not what I need

 and I don't want to make

you weep.

Lend me a joke so that we may

laugh. Lend me your arms so 

that you may help me climb.

Lend me your smile so I can give

it back to you. Your soul you must

keep. That's what I need and I don't

want to make you weep.

Lend me your hand so that

I may reach out to you. Lend

me your time so that I may show

you my world. Your soul you must

keep.  That's not what I need and I 

don't want to make you weep.