Bloodbath
by Jay S Zimmerman
by Jay S Zimmerman
in
shade-drawn darkness
you
feel your way
the
walls smooth, cool
remembering Sunday mornings
sitting on the front porch
chest naked
she wearing nearly nothing
watching sunrises
the color of bellinis
you
feel the
oak
banisters oiled and
shaped
by hands
of
ancient Mariners
memories of red moon nights
sails splitting the shroud
of night
waves washed the bow
to sounds of laughter
now
they curve round the ache
of
a heart
split
into pieces of glass
lying
in blood-red splinters
with
each agonizing step
you
pursue your lover
in
betrayals bed
behind
the closed door
her
moaning mesmerizing
you
are stilled
a
viper, fangs dripping poison
in
silence you slither
violently
striking
sheets
billowing with
blood
and naked limbs
then only quiet
your own haunting screams
washed in blood
your tears now the chains
of a dead end
Bio: Jay S Zimmerman came to poetry from his life as a visual
artist, composing poems to go with his art, finding as much joy in painting
with words as with other visual tools. He has recently been published in Three
Line Poetry, I am not a silent poet, and Flying Island. He was born in the
concrete caverns of New York, amid the trolley bells and sounds of subways,
travelled south to Miami Beach and thrived in the warm sands and salt air
dancing to the musical rhythms of Klesmer, Cha Cha and Bossa Nova, finally venturing
to the dark soil, flat farmlands and rolling hills of the Midwest where his
roots have grown and been nourished for over 40 years. He is an artist,
photographer, psychologist, social justice advocate.