Star Fighter

I’d been fighting longer than I could remember

Longer than my ship’s computer could compute

Ages

Aeons

Those glimmering metallic ships flying directly at me

Their iridescent fire filling the space all around

Luminesce

Luftwaffe

Waves upon waves of enemies threw themselves upon me

Heedless in their desire to end me and my cause

Endless

Evil

But no matter how many times I was shot

No matter how many times I was sundered

Finished

Fragged

I came back more persistent more ready

Their formations now memorized I dreamed of them

Circles

Cuboids

Ah

But here I sit awaiting my next return

Something is different

Above rests luminous letters

A simple question

So why the hesitation

The numbers count down

Will I choose to ride again

To

 

Continue?

For I Was Lost

Crawled over stone

Laden with moss

Surely they were looking

…

 

Thank the gods

For the lack of frost

I had no shelter

…

 

Then over a river

I carefully crossed

Never before had I seen it

…

 

Bugs of biting varieties

Then began to accost

No time to rest

…

 

To return to them

Nothing too great a cost

I’d forge on heedless

…

 

My feet did bleed

My will then was exhaust

I thought I could not continue

…

 

A twig then snapped

My eyes then glossed

Before me loomed my death

…

 

If you want to read more fantastic poetry from this collection go check out Amberley’s poem for today right here, and then make sure to read the rest of them in our collections After the End and under the hashtag AfterTheEnd

I Was Miles Away

I like that you answer yourself

When you ask yourself

When I ask myself

All I hear is the howling of the wind

It’s so quiet here

So very

Very quiet

 

What?

I-

Um yes

I’m fine

 

Just busy fighting off the existential horror of my own existence

 

Haha yes

A joke

Of course

 

Of course

 

Of course I only laugh to keep from weeping

Now I Rise

Lids heavy I awaken

Rays glittering dapple sheets

I take the dawn’s lead and rise

Shades gossamer thin

Thrown aside to greet the day

Clouds like cotton gauze

But the sky does not bleed

Are they instead cresting whiteheads

An endless inverse sea stretching on

I spread my arms

Welcoming all in

I shall conquer the day

Like all others before it

And make the most

Of every moment left

My doctor revealed

Weeks before

Something malignant

Rapidly spreading

“Months at most…”

I vowed to do it all

All I had thought to do

All that I had wanted

I would claim

And so I have

World Crafting

I will work

Meticulously

Obsessively

Ceaselessly

 

Crafting every man

Woman and child

A world in a page

 

Their hopes

Their dreams

Their fears

Their deeds

 

Rolling hills

Sparkling rivers

Gleaming peaks

 

All flora

All fauna

All rocks

All seas

 

A perfect world

And beautiful people

 

Yet

 

Something is missing

 

Some pain

Yes and strife

Death on wings unseen

 

More woes

More loss

More tears

More sobs

 

Yes now it’s real

A touch more war

A bit more anger

 

Less laughs

Less love

Less light

Less hope

 

Look upon my works

Ye readers

And despair

 

I am the villain

Ultimate antagonist

End of all stories

Author

Acrophobia

Legs shaking like branches in a maelstrom

Hands grip white knuckle tight

On nothing more than the friction

The texture of the tiles

You have more stability

By standing straight

Standing is an impossibility

My mind is racing

If I fall

If I slip

If I hit the ground

From up here

My ribs

My skull

My spine

Crippled for life

Even fractures can lead

To permanent damage

Whale eyes plead with my dad

He sees me

Understands

And helps me back down

All I could think

Really

Was what it was like

When he fell

Three stories

And broke

Everything

That wouldn’t kill

Or cripple

What if it happened

To me?

Asha

I pull the plank over the entrance

Sealing out those howling winds

And turned to my family

My husband, Gerald lay beside Asha

Our malamute, gentle giant

I grabbed a fur and laid down

Laying it over all three of us

Warm bundle cuddled tight

No snow could find its way

Not here in our lovely warmth

Gerald grabbed the wooden bowl

Laden with powdery snow

And dumped it on the small fire

Crackling beside him

Soon sizzling flickered and died

I closed my eyes slowly

Face full of wooly fur

An arm stretched out

Hugging both Asha and me

Darkness enveloped lovingly

Dream haze came quietly

Heedless of those rumbling winds

My babe lay in my arms

Breath gone but body warm

The moment she left us

Asha

Then the next day

Asha returned

Black ball of cloud

Crested snowy dune

Howling to us

Reborn from a wintery grave

To watch us once more

From tragedy sprung

Such wonderful life

I was suddenly cold

So very cold

Shivering

My eyes flew open as sound cascaded

Crashing down as our plank had

In the entrance crouched two figures

Eight paws

Two maws

And low growls full of death

Wolves

Asha already guarding me

My husband holding a dagger of bone

He slowly, carefully, hands me one

I grip it tightly, eyes transfixed

Then one lunged

Asha ducked low teeth twisting up

Burying in the wolf’s soft throat

A cry and yelp of pain

The other wolf launched over its companion

Tackling Asha to the ground

Our babe cried out for us

A roar bestial and full of fury

Issues from my throat

As dagger dug deep in its throat

Warm blood spurting my eyes

I blinked away the viscous blood

But all was still pink and crimson

The other wolf had no chance

My husband already was cutting away

Slicing sinew and tendon

Breaking bone and separating head

From neck

I panted heavily

My heart in my ears

Then the sound cut through

A shuddering whimper

Asha

I turned her over

Whale eyes pleading

Life flowed from her

Gouges cut in neck

“No please

No

Not again

I can’t do this again

No please Asha”

I held her close to my chest

Her whimpering gasps shuddering us both

My husband was holding us both

Arms held what couldn’t be saved

What wouldn’t be stopped

Blood

So much

Asha coughed

Sighed

And was still

I screamed

I screamed so hard

So bitterly

My throat felt torn

That I would tear the sky

Damn the gods and all their thrones

Damn nature itself

If it would bring her back

But she was gone

I had lost Asha

I had lost life

I had lost hope

Again

If you enjoyed this make sure to check out Amberley’s poem for today right here! If you’d like to read the rest of them check out our collections “After the End” and the hashtag AfterTheEnd

Lucid Moment

White tile gleams

Bone sheen white

Cotton mouth rasp

Head cloudy rattle

My chair creaks softly

Slowly I ease left to right

The glass is fogged and cracked

I smell the old and dying

That soft scent of illness

Who are they?

My head lolls to the side

I see a table

Upon stand armies

One shadow

One light

Already some of those little fools

Fallen by order of those above

No other chair sits there

I am alone

What brought me here?

Where is here?

So empty are these memories

I cannot remember knowing

Clear as Rain

He saw them everywhere

Messages no others could see

The world not a banner obscured by rain

But elucidated by the deluge

The water the message itself

Genius is what he c̣alled himself

Paranoid delusions was his psychiatrist’s diagnosis

Everyone was just too stupid

All blinded to the truth of that around them

Then a day came he found a newspaper

Laid upon a bench

No one around

Tentatively he pịcked it up and sat down

He then casually

Or so he saw himself

Flipped open the paper

Slowly his eyes scanned for all the ciphers

All the systems that he knew

There

There also

Yes little flecks

Almost like printing errors

Marking letters out for a secret message

“The drop is at 1024 McAllen

Wear red so we know it’s you.”

He breathed heavily

The most simple message he had ever found

So clear and precise

He folded the paper under his arm

And walked away briskly

Eyes panning the horizon

Would he go?

Should he?

Surely it was not meant for him

But maybe this could

Finally

Prove to everyone what he had said

What he knew to be true

They were watching

They were scheming

And he hȧd the skills to expose them