“Depression, it is said, is a gross indifference to the world.”
Dr. Crater will see you now. I avoid the call by heading out the door for a restroom break.
I am a vampire, wandering in the dark, out for a pint
to satisfy my need.
Liar, you need something larger
An infant, perhaps, lying safe in its crib
on some dismal back street
someone nobody will miss
a waif, pinching a penny
a corpse
soon ash.
I thirst
I want to indulge in the arterial chamber
my lips and teeth, dripping a dusty red
a testament to frailty
I want you gripping your chair
screaming out of the nightmare
just out of your reach
I am grinning like a Cheshire
commanding you to dig deeper
It’s just a little further down, it goads
keep writing.
And you do
just like a hypnotized doll
who blinks a code to an imagined friend
Just around the bend behind
a massive banyan
with tangled roots
on a street corner
in dumb cluck USA.
Eyes wide open,
the dagger clutched
blade sharpened
The dupe who answers the demand is
good for something at last.
Corney Press 