Five Horror Poems

Just when you thought the Halloween shivers had ceased, I offer five poems of true horror in our lives.

Photo by Ralph Katieb on Unsplash

Naomi

We drive over valleys and summits

Crossing basin and range Nevada

On a lonesome road

Open skies reflecting open land

Lifts my spirit with its possibilities.

Suddenly we veer to the shoulder

I watch her duck behind a pinion

And remember those days when

I could drop my drawers for relief.

Returning, her hands drop in her lap

My no-nonsense daughter seems shaken

There's a boot in the pine duff

The toe points straight up

We both know what that means.

She reports it to the Sheriff

Then asks him about Naomi.

Oh yeah, she's dead, didn't last an hour

They just haven't found her body yet.

He's so cavalier

It's his day-in-a-life story

Girl is kidnapped murdered

She was waiting for the shuttle

Sipping coffee in the morning dusk.

I've read the stories

People disappear without a trace

It's a big desert out there

Pinion duff, dust devils

Canyons and hollows hide

Lots of nefarious deeds

Now I scan the open land

Wonder how many more

Are waiting to be found

And think of Naomi

In her shallow grave.

Photo by Jen Theodore on Unsplash

Guadalupe

gloved hands sort through tons of garbage

find a broken doll in plastic

tiny corpse just three days sleeping

yellow tapes surround the crime scene

policemen sift the trash for clues

while chaplains soften workers’ grief

they name her Guadalupe

spare change piles on the table

townsfolk mourn with silent murmurs

in a community funeral mass

angel statue guards the small grave

where she lies a tiny mark on

those who whisper hopeful Aves

for their own children.

Photo by Daniel ODonnell on Unsplash

Dufflebag

against the truck tire

police find a body

pretzeled inside

middle-aged woman

natural causes

none of her family

knows how she got there

they guard their stories

how years ago

husband and children

suburban home

all the right parties

until something snapped

whatever the cause

none of her friends know

how she got on Fourth Street

living in missions

until she was found

face down in the alley

who packaged her

moved her here

to a resort town

without telling

someone why

Photo by Gabriel Meinert on Unsplash

Eyes

He shakes my hand

As introductions require

His eyes look past me

Eyes that belie the handsome

structure of his face

Eyes that lure

the naive to trust

Eyes that stir a warning

A banner headline across my brain

There is something really kinky here.

I seek the homeliest man there

and feel my discomfort ease.

Next day at work I spy his eyes again

A wire photo lying on the City Desk

Serial killer finally nabbed in sting.

The editors hum around

that busy hive of daily horrors

Deadlines loom, stories need

positioning on the page

according to importance

All becomes a blur as I

stand there, stunned.

I shook the hand of evil.

Photo by D5 Render on Unsplash

Domestic Bliss

Redwood walls hover over the walks

Ivy thrives here along with maryjane

rosemary and thyme.

He glowers from his doorstep

unavoidable

between my car and my door

his beard peppered

his eyes like steel and blood

his smile like the Cheshire Cat

But the grin left last month

when I called the cops

for his screaming woman.

She's still around

decided not to press charges

even bailed him out

couldn't stand the

brutality

she saw him go through

forgetting her own bruises.

Doin' just fine now, she says

She cringes at the sound

of shattering glass

of whining cries

from the place upstairs

Then she shrugs

Another fight … well gotta go

She disappears inside.

I retreat to my place

My bay window faces outward

toward the sea

I close my door on those

facing inward

facing each other

facing the blank garden apartment

tenement walls.

If you enjoyed these poems, feel free to check out more writings in the Ring Around the Basin Archives.