"The only redeeming quality about this story is that the good die and the stupid suffer." ~ Anonymous
I’ve always loved nature
“What was that?”
Its mysterious grandeur
“I think it’s coming closer…”
All of life’s wonder coalesced
“Jesus, it must be huge…”
In every sight beheld
“Oh my god!”
And in the face of such magnificence
“It got Mark!”
We find we are but cattle
“Jesus Christ it’s so fast!”
For something ravenous
“This was a mistake…”
And which has always preyed upon
And hungered for
Those fretting
Odd little things
Which call themselves Man
He stood in a vast square
Where milled many
Who fretted and fussed
Over this
And that
Slowly he raised it
A small black box
Whose edges shimmered strangely
As the lid rose
The sound of the square fell
As an unearthly silence blanketed all
Smothering the words
Which played upon their lips
From it arose something black
Which looked more like a hole
Within one’s sight
This something flickered
As though there
And not
And in a moment
Expanded out
Engulfing the square
And all its little fretting people
But still it shifted
Showing now and again
Its flickering ruin
First destroyed
Then not
The people screaming
Then not
Mother held child
Husband held wife
But none spoke
They simply could not
What was their to say
In the face of death
Which took
And gave
With such thoughtless impermanence
A knife hissed through air
Inches from her face
“I always prefer those in their prime”
He mused softly
Eyes alight with something
It was red
And black
And full of hunger
“The skin of old people shreds like…
Wet paper”
His lip curled
As he pressed the edge
Of the cool steel blade
Against her cheek
Her eyes held something defiant
Brilliant and unwavering
Eagle soaring
Even so bound
And arms crossed
“I mean look at you
Skin so taught and tan
Ready for display
I’d say”
He turned and picked up a scalpel
Keen edge glimmering in candle light
“It’d make a fine prize…
But I think
I’d rather claim…
Your eyes”
Those eyes glared
Unafraid even in this
This horrible place
With such horrible words
He gripped her hair
And leaned in close
Blade edging closer
Closer
Closer to her eye
She kept them open though
And with a swift
And brutal movement
Yanked forward
And bit down upon his nose
Cartilage gave a sickening crunch
And the man screamed
Stabbing her shoulder with the little blade
But she held on
Eager for her prize
She twisted her head
And with a powerful tug
Came back with the majority
His face contained now
A bloody hole
Ragged and sputtering with air
He trembled as he grasped
And tried in vain
To staunch the flow
He stumbled back
With awkward gait
And collapsed upon the floor
She spat it out at him
Calmly she let go
Of the ropes
Which fell about her
In a loose coil
She stepped forward
And with a tug
Freed the scalpel from her shoulder
She knelt beside the man
Something sharp flickering in her smile
“Oh yes you’ll do nicely
Another monster
To add to my gallery…”
She growled low
Tracing the surgical steel
Ever so carefully
Around the curve of his chin
His eyes now filled
Brimming
With fear
He was always the favorite
Dear little Danny
How mother doted on him
While I was left
Alone in the library
With my studies
And my thoughts
And my plans
All these years later though
I stand upon the precipice
Of a tall stone shaft
At the bottom of which lies
The broken body of
Dear little Danny
I can hear the tell-tale skitter
From the numerous holes in the walls
Before the multitudinous hordes
Spill forth
I watch the gruesome chaos unfurl
As he is devoured whole
Little more
Than a weak moan escaping his lips
Before he is gone
Remembered by none
Save me
And the rats which he fed
The children all knew its name
The orphanage which clung
Gargoyle-like
To the rocky pier
Not the name it proudly touted
Ms. Greyrock’s Home for Unfortunates
No the name it truly carried
Which spoke of pain
And loss
And those many souls
Which passed through its walls
Like meat within a thresher
The House of Captive Hope
Feed cuts in
Fuzzy for a moment
Then snapping into focus
She was bound to the chair
Arms at her sides
Several wires lead from her head
Down
Over
And into a device
Sitting before a man dressed in black
He cleared his throat
In that way one does
When they know
They already have your attention
“Miss Liska are you with us?”
A smile spread over his lips
Slug like and unappealing
She grumbled lowly
Looked up with her eyes
Without moving her head
Eyes glum pools
Despair set in
Resignation
The only thing left to her
She knew what was to come
“Good good
Now let me see here…
You are in charge of…
Personnel intake at Ignis
Well here in the city at least.”
He flipped casually
Methodically
Through a file
Information printed upon
Pale papers
Fabricated from rice most likely
“Your recent interview
Interview ten-thirty-two”
Enunciating his words
With exaggerated elegance
Reminiscent of street thugs
Playing at posh
“You saw a mister…
Novak”
His eyes flicked to her
Scanning
Watching
Eyeing her for a tick
Recognition
He goes back to reading
“Quite the catch
For you
And yours…”
He said with something
Predatory
Biting
Behind his voice
“Why…
He singlehandedly
Decimated Tartarus…”
Slowly he closed the file
“Imagine…
What he could do
If unleashed…
On something…
Someone…
More valuable”
His eyes sharpened then
Stiletto stare
Cutting the distance between them
“Imagine the havoc
The chaos
Someone like that could inflict!”
He tossed the file on the floor
“Imagine how much money
That could cost someone…
And what those people…
Would do…
To him…”
He leaned over the device before him
Practically spitting the words at her
Venom shot through air
“And who they might hire…
To…
Locate such a man”
The smile returned
With some vinegar
Soured and surly
She said nothing
Stoic
Hard
She’d been through worse
It was plain on her face
“… That’s fine
You’ll talk”
He pressed a button
Screen light bouncing off of him
Cerulean effluence
Fingers fluttering over keys
Then a pause
Pregnant and ponderous
Then one last key
Branislava shook
Trembling full body
Eyes rolling back
Lids fluttering
Uncontrollable
Fists clenched hard
He let this go
For a minute
Then casually
Clicked
One more key
Her eyes flew open
Screams
She screamed so loud
Speakers peaking
Eyes filled with terror
Unbridled
Unhinged
She screamed
And screamed
And screamed
“Hey!”
He stood up and walked to her
Snapping fingers
Her head lolled side
To side
Eyes unfocused
He gave her a slap
Hard
Single clap
She gasped and breathed hard
Lungfuls
Sucking in
Exhaling fast
He grasped the sides of her face
“Where
Does
He
Live?”
Her mouth moved
Silent to me
He smiled
Yanking cords out
From external jack
Beneath her skull
“Was that so hard?”
He patted her cheek
“We’ll make it quick…”
I pause the video
Breathing slowly in
Staring at the screen
Stunned into silence
And out
The hordes are at the gates
Our valorous men stand
Shimmering in glittering armor
We must reject them
Repel this teeming force
Do so as we were told
Over the edge we pour
Boiling tar and noxious brew
We are safe for a day more
But lo
Listen
Below you hear
The cry of mothers
And their children too
What monsters are we made
What cruel villains we’ve formed
And all for lack
Of questioning the orders
Sent high from some trumped up tyrant
.
(Image thematically related)
She looms above them
The huddled masses
A scythe of crimson blood
Poised and ready to strike
The Creator can do naught
But trust in her measured cuts
See how she leaves whole lives
Towns and people
Bathed in red
And all but forgotten
Only their Creator knows their names
But in the end
After the death
After the loss
It is made more perfect
More flowing and paced
When the editor finishes
Her culling of pages
We sat close together
A simple meal
But one made lovingly
My mother’s handiwork
Just as we were about to eat
A knock was heard
Upon the entrance
A figure stood
Bent low
Casting a grasping shadow
My father rose to meet them
Asking who they were
“A simple traveler”
It rasped
“Come far far away
And oh
So hungry…”
As my father welcomed the stranger
And he drew closer
I saw a strange face
All angles and pallid white
Eyes a fierce and awful grey blue
As he came yet closer
He seemed so large
As to be ready to pounce upon us
But with a groan
He knelt
Seeming to shrink
Disappearing into his tattered shroud
My mother offered a warm ear of corn
Which the stranger accepted
Devouring greedily
Without thanks
Something about him warned me
And so I watched carefully
As he continued to eat
Having far more than his fair share
When the meal came to an end
The stranger began rummaging within his shroud
Before extricating a strange metal object
“Your payment, and my thanks…”
He growled
Before the thing belched fire
Consuming my mother
Then my father
And lastly my sisters
He turned to me next
Before smiling
And putting away that awful thing
“Welcome to the new world…”
He laughed mirthlessly
And left without another word
Belabored breath
I can barely breath
Legs peddling
Slow
But steady
Whirring gearbox
Transforming my life
To energy
So we might heat our hearth
For another day
“Our” is maybe generous
Food is provided me
And water too
I share in the heat
But
I cannot stop
They will not let me
Me and all the others
Taking shifts
Endless toil
And look how they lounge
And love
And live in sweet bliss
The guard can see
I am on my last legs
But instead
Of allowing me a respite
I feel a jab
From his long handled pike
“Faster you dog…”
He growls venomously
I begin to cry
Make sure to go check out Ameberley’s After the End poem for today over here! If you liked these then you can read all of the poems in our collections After the End and the hashtag AftertheEnd
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