Friday, November 9, 2007

Bathtub Intruders, 3 A.M.



Published in Christopher Pimental's Thug Works Magazine October, 2007

A facade crumbles
screams echo off
cool tile
perfect acoustics
amplify
yet no one answers..
I wonder
why you can't hear
these screams
miles away
or just downstairs..
larnyx constricting
fear tightens its grasp
nothing, no one,
not hate, nor love
just a
mouth full of nothingness
tongue carved out
no words can form

steam rises off the water
f r a n t i c a l l y eyes
strive to focus
something brushes against my skin
glancing down
I glimpse 8 small
heads floating on the water
dis-
connected
b r o k-
en
doll heads
staring up

through steam which
rises
between my legs
8 empty sockets seeing nothing
nakedness concealed
8 pairs of blue eyes flecked with grey
gone vacant
glazed over
eyes which once saw
beauty in the darkness
salvation in the flames
listlessly
stare me down
children
hearing,
never seeing.
8 heads bearing
c h i p p e d teeth
peeling skin
ghostly gaze
I am haunted
paralyzed a moment before
reaching out
I aim my lens
to capture these intruders
who inhabit my bathtub at 3 in the morning
focus
check aperture
make sure just enough light
gets through
careful hands
adjust shutter speed
don't blink too fast or they'll
d i s a p p e a r
Process now...
chemicals swirl
image
coming softly into focus
holding the picture at
arms l e n g t h.......


my own relection stares back

vacantly

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