Tag: Halloween
Just A Sip
Just A Sip
how kind
a cup of blood for me
fresh
warm to the touch
I can’t thank you enough
has it been checked
I mean I don’t want to sound
ungrateful
but even the starving
have to show some caution
these days
<>
I once
broke out in hives
from contaminated blood
things like that happen
when you are starving
you lose all sense of caution
of self-preservation
in my younger days
I could smell the blood
& tell how pure it was
<>
now all it smells of is
drink me
Blowing Up Halloween
Remains
Remains
months later
the body hasn’t been found
snow
flies
dances around a backyard
ground frozen hard
shock dissipated somewhat
we know all the details
we’ve been allowed to know
how they met, why,
the history of both men
the deceased and the accused
made manifest
all that’s missing is the corpse
<>
bleached bare bones
found years from now
when everything is forgotten
his name
the innocent till proven guilty
my name
I’m not naming names
don’t want anyone remembered
for how they died
his life is more than that
<>
his life has to be more
than a cold case years from now
more than a denial from the accused
more than just another queer
who go what he deserved
<>
years later
and the body hasn’t been found
the estate can’t be settled
some people still can’t sleep
don’t feel completion
whatever the fuck that is
I don’t want completion
revenge or justice
I want this
to never have happened
<>
I want to forget
where the remains
can be found
Bones and Body Parts
Festive decor from around the east end of Toronto as folks get into the swing of Halloween. It rivals Christmas as we celebrate our old region past
Sign of the Beast
Sign of the Beast
I wondered
is it a neon sign
something hand-painted
sprayed on a subway car
does it swing on a board
over the door of a pub
or at a street corner
like a stop sign
<>
will I see it
at the bottom of a contract
does it come between
aries & scorpio
a wave of the hand
to say
here I am
I’ve saved a seat for you
is it an early warning for cancer
<>
I don’t think I’ve seen it yet
they say you’ll know it
when you see it
there’ll be no question in your mind
you can’t ignore it
when you see it
it’s too late
to do anything about it
<>
no matter what you do
to avoid it
you will see it
I Don’t Know Him
I Don’t Know Him
he was sure
we had met before
he knew my name
where I lived
what I had for breakfast
<>
I was sure he was mistaken
the name he called me
wasn’t mine
I never lived at that address
I skipped breakfast
<>
he was puzzled
he wants to know
why I pretend not to know him
he wants proof
of not being who
he is sure I am
<>
I walk away
I’m not showing some stranger
anything
that would identify me
he’s not getting a glimpse
of my credit cards
my health card
I’m not even going to tell him
where I live
where I’m going
<>
now he wants to know
what I’m hiding
what am I afraid of
he said I was never this paranoid
that I need help
people are gawking at us
<>
I control my anger
I don’t want his blood on my hands
but I want him
to shut the fuck up
to get out of my space
leave me alone
<>
I don’t know him
I don’t want to know him
I want to call the police
but what will I tell them
how long will I have to wait
<>
I stop answering his questions
I walk as fast as I can
dash across a street
just as the lights change
he’s right behind me
<>
car wheels screech
thud
thunk
I keep going
he’s not behind me
I won’t turn back
I don’t know him
Blood Stained
On last seasonal piece:
Blood Stained
<>
you bleed I smile
I bleed you smile
we slither around in pools of blood
smeared white flesh
glimpsed
in gradually clotted red browns
incarnadine couple
the blood stream carries us away
to the sea of candy apple red
smooth then rippled
we sink slowly into the sludge
seeking pudding for breakfast
tottering along scabbed shores
of idealized tissues
patterned lace across a windshield
when the car hit the pole
the head hits the window
flecks of blood dance in the air
to settle in cunning trails
along a grassy lawn
on someone’s open-mouthed
shocked face
into that open mouth
found new home in a new body
<>
the dainty dangling red dew
dripping off the overhead street light
the morning rain
will pull blood to the earth
make for better roses next year
you just wait and see
it happens all the time
the undignified deal of war
bargains for blood
sacred weeping virgins
in dusty obscure orthodox churches
is that her blood
his blood
blood of the lamb
immaculate and sloppy
caked and flowing
we are in the the presence
of the great bleeder
confessing the inability of science
to stop the flow
of medicine to suture the wound
the inability of philosophy to cauterize
the challenge of where to flow
taking us along
not for a ride
for we are the ride
the tide
the blurred fingerprint
on a rear view mirror
touched in the act
the tactile moment of it
between our fingers
brought to a tongue
can these hands be licked clean
Hell House
Walked past this house recently. North of Gerrard E, top of Leslie. I particularly like the astronaut – lighting wasn’t right for a decent pic & flash washed everything out.
Spirit Photography
Spirit Photography
a shadow
in the shape of a hand
a slow drip
the colour of blood
the stain on a wall
mottled into a face
stairs that squeaked
with no one climbing them
the tv that turned on
with no one in the room
the phone that rang
with no one there
the picture
you were once in
the bush
whispering your name
the toast burned
with a number
the door
that wouldn’t open
the window that
closed itself
the bed sheets on the line
reaching for a child
a clock that chimes five
no matter what the time
the cemetery
dark at noon
the book
that never opens
to the right page
the letter
from a relative
you’ve never heard of
the breathing
behind you
in an empty closet
the shaft of light
that falls on a claw
the ending
that remains unresolved
TOpoet 