Trouble Below the Patapsco River
big bulbs flashed like a discotheque strobe light.
it’s always midnight.
his breath filled the cavernous abyss.
his heart at risk of jumping to its death.
the shell of his flesh colder than a poikilotherm.
shudder of his lens.
a missing eye, a snake besides.
the hair on his arms like spikes.
why’d he follow trouble below the Patapsco River?
his eyes blood orange like the eagle owl.
too late to remember that curiosity killed the cat.
the narrow way wolf gray and white.
the body left in the open. the killer knew
he attracted an extra hide, and Justin
knew he was being hunted. this tunnel abandoned
since the lockdown. he followed the dodge
which had a hand hanging out through the brake light
red and waving.
he witnessed the whisk,
away the icy serpent flew.
Justin could feel his hot breath
the beast with centipede eyes.
he knows he’ll never make it out alive
even as he takes shot after shot.
the scream, the screech
of a van down the street.
he jumps in.
Go! Go! Go!
the tire wheels spin and smoke.
no time to choke.
van stops —
the director yells cut
1/26/2021
MURDER IN THE TUNNEL
SPONSOR: Kai Neumann
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