Nowhere Is 'Safe'

1

She felt like a rabbit2

when the shadow of the hawk3

falls on like a dark crucifix4

or a mouse5

with tomcat 'Fluffy' crouched patiently6

outside the hole7

She lay poisoned,by her own lethal visions8

buzzards swooping and diving9

trying to rationalize the unthinkable10

and falling victim to the destruction11

even her own lips deemed unspeakable12

She was like an onion13

slowly peeling away one layer at a time14

only it was the trappings of humanity 15

that seemed to be peeling away16

reflection, memory,possibly even free will,17

if there ever had been such a thing...18

Here in the solitude 19

of nature's starry rocking chair20

an escape for some,21

a hideous venture for others,22

such as her23

A small spark of fire 24

glowed in the tumbled wilderness25

like a starving albino cooking a wild carcass26

watching it sizzle and spit grease into the fire27

and a light breeze hovered28

blowing a crude, yet savory smell29

past the reddish moon30

two rises from the north31

glistening like pink oil on her sweaty flesh32

All at once, he was upon her33

highlighted by the garnet glow 34

of diffused dying rays35

a reality she experienced 36

over and over37

with imprinted visions 38

of pounding rain-showers39

dripping from the matted halo of tangled hair.40

A huge sheet of agony 41

from ankle to groin42

defying all purposes 43

of becoming one with nature44

and leaving the dirty streets 45

of monoxide defamation.46

The sheepskin jacket flapped fitfully at her collar47

and the drone of howling wolves 48

seemed to echo like a stopwatch49

monotone,sinking into the maddening darkness50

Their guttural sounds 51

like ripping cloth 52

in the silence of the woods53

and she knew that her vigilance54

couldn't,(wouldn't) 55

disguise the scent of her fear56

as the wind gusted like a courier57

carrying her to the hungry pack. 58

She tried to stand and the vertigo gyroscope59

balanced inside her head60

with a drunken sort of triumph61

the moment so sweet62

she lost a second or two savoring it63

(and not realizing what she had missed)64

fingers tensed and rising 65

as if she were about to play 66

some abnormal tune on the piano of a pantomime opera67

She pushed it to the limit,68

courage just a breathe way 69

from a cowardly retreat70

scarred fingertips pulling, grappling71

with constant acidity 72

rising up in her throat73

the juices of an empty organ74

commanding a small portion 75

of a rich man's dinner76

the same rich man77

who had left her here to die78

She began to understand the irrefutable fact79

that nothing was as it ever seemed80

and that bloated,reddish moon 81

was like an eye82

an eye that fell mysteriously blind on tragedy,83

or even something 84

small enough to squirm through85

a carefully concealed spiky patch of darkness86

as a fawn, hidden in the brush of cover87

wrapped as she once was,88

in a delirium of terror89

and safer, 90

in the streets of a gang-ridden city.91