PM 1311021
I paint myself a bright, neon orange
but it still comes out black,
as black as the most evil night,
like in Argentina when the power goes
out and there are no cars around to
at least show intermittent light.
No beacon to lead you back in from that
stormy night or just to remind you that
you are alive and not just gone blind.
Lying in a bed under a window I see nothing
outside and from the inside all I get is
the glowing ember from a cigarette
quickly lighting up that face and then I
wish it had never been lit up at all.
I lie there, so scared and so frightened,
we are in Mendoza, a beautiful city
but so frightening at night when all the
lights are off.
I hear so many motorcycles in the
distance and hope none are coming for me.
Bike gangs take on a different meaning here,
a means to travel cheaply and nothing
more, I had seen a raven that afternoon
as we arrived at the city and stopped for gas.
Hotel Las Verbenas, I saw the sign but had no
idea what it meant and I couldn't get my
mind off the stupid raven.
It haunted me even more as I lay there
awake, dreading the moment I might hear
the crash of the door being broken down by a
jack-boot. They wouldn't bother to
interrogate children, we didn't know
anything, they would just shoot us and
dump us in an unmarked grave somewhere,
or leave us dead on the roof for the crows.
What was that raven doing at the gas station
and what did he know about us? What did
he know about me and the things I had been
up to? Once again, the strike of a match, a quick
glow and then only an ember, more pronounced
upon inhalation, just enough to shed light on
the devil.
I had seen so many spiders that day
and now I was at their mercy,
there could be one inches in front of my face
and I couldn't do a thing about it.
Maybe there was a rat right by my pillow just
waiting to gnaw my nose off,
sharpening his teeth on a rusty fork,
I could scream but nothing would come out,
but then the power comes back on,
at least the air conditioner is working again.
MCC
No comments:
Post a Comment