The March Selected Poet is Linda M. Crate
Please feel free to email Linda at: veritaserumvial@hotmail.com
SKELETON’S REVENGE
blood red moon
ravens cry,
a murder of black feathers
descending in a jagged
grin;
a skeleton hand
peeps out
of the ground with a silver
scythe and a dark
intent of malice—
the teenagers
know they ought to be in bed,
but occupying the graveyard
this night
seems creepy and cool
all at once;
so they remain where they ought not
tread—
soon the scythe swings bringing down two
for the price of one,
and the remaining
three scream;
he sees two running
but there is no
escape from the terror
now he focuses his attention on the girl whose
body is too rigid to move
out of shock
her boyfriend and brother murdered by a body
with no name
she joins them in death without a peep—
the skeleton soon finds the other two and revels
in the screaming
as he brings down the disobedient
teens
reminding him so much of his obstinate
children in his class.
THE ANGRY DEAD
he doesn’t know he’s dead
doesn’t remember
dying
until he sees his wife
at dinner
with another man,
and he’s so angry he’s seeing
red;
but he cannot punch this man
suddenly he remembers
three years ago
when the bullet hit his brain in the line
of duty—
yet his anger won’t fade
away
seeing his best friend and his wife
makes his stomach turn
regardless
of his death,
and so he attempts to lift his great
grandfather’s war sword
sees that he can do so with ease and so
gives himself revenge on his
disloyal friends;
savoring the sound of their screams
as their blood mingles
ruby upon the
television screen.
NIGHTMARE IN THE DARK
drunk on the promise
of life
he can never have
again
the vampire
drinks in the air of the teenagers
as he moves against
the tide
leaving the movie theater,
and he watches as
one girl kisses her boyfriend goodnight
before heading to her own car;
his gaze and gait are quicker
than hers,
and so he’s there
before she is;
kisses her to sleep before she feels the
heat of his fangs against her
throat—
she tries to scream,
but it’s too late;
death has always claimed her
his bride
as she falls limp
in the vampire’s arms
he smirks
darkly against her wounded flesh as it
falls to the ground
disappearing
into the fog
a nightmare whose night has just
begun.
Linda M. Crate is a Pennsylvanian native born in Pittsburgh yet raised in the rural town of Conneautville. Her poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. She has two chapbooks A Mermaid Crashing into Dawn (Fowlpox Press - June 2013) and Less Than a Man (The Camel Saloon - January 2014) that were published, along with a third If Tomorrow Never Comes (Scars Publications, August 2016) out just recently. Her fantasy novel Blood & Magic was published in March 2015. The second novel of this series Dragons & Magic was published in October 2015. The third novel Centaurs & Magic was published in November 2016. Her poetry collection Sing Your Own Song is forthcoming through Barometric Pressures Series.