WORDCHASM

Right now, your ice cold fingertips are the only thing between me and certain death. Ironically, the only thing between you and certain continued survival is… me.
In retrospect, I actually don’t know exactly where I went wrong. Somewhere along the line, I must have taken a wrong turn or two to land myself so directly [...]

I hope this isn’t too late.
It’s been a while since we talked, haven’t seen you in a couple years. I know I live right down the street from you but we seem to have fallen apart since the accident.
I remember the days we spent together now, the life we had. I remember making the mementos [...]

kill the secret lingering joy
she wakes from the fever
never let her broken smile heal
make the child-life melt like ice
with its almost translucent angel beauty

Breathe in, breathe in, breath in ouchouchouch exhale. Crap.
I wonder briefly what might have happened if I had waited for just two more minutes. Silmar had asked me to stay for dinner, I could have- I wasn’t in that much of a hurry. It was only a four hour drive from Nashville, and it was [...]

Shake of the head.
I’ll miss you, but only for a while…
Pat the empty pockets, look up in shock. Forget home, forget love, forget everything. Step forward and accept your fate.
Cold. Not like walking through Boston at midnight in the dead of winter- more like the exact opposite of Hell, but not heaven. Ice numbs in [...]

He spent a silent era sitting, just sitting in the darkness as the world outside plunged ahead as it always had. But in here, there was quiet. Travis was unaware of exactly how long it had been- it had been a while, a long time, but time was an idea, and lately ideas were few [...]

Essentials only. Clothes, toiletries (no shampoo, soap, or towel- that’s what the Super 8 is for). Packing is to road trips as taking cover is to Chuck Pfarrer; do it any sooner than absolutely necessary and it just isn’t cool anymore. The same goes for how much to pack. No caffeine, it’s a diuretic. Trips [...]

Bob cheered as his favorite team scored the winning touchdown of the game. He was already wasted, but the after party was just beginning…
It had been a long couple days for Sylvie, working the graveyard shift at the hospital- three ICU drive-by victims had died, two fourteen year old girls and a toddler. No [...]

For Breath by Breaking Benjamin
Laziness hit an all-time high, or low- depends on your outlook on life. Cup Noodles in the container, run the tap as hot as it goes. Not hot enough. Damn. Pop the whole thing in the microwave, ignore the Laws of Logic and Reason: nuking plastic poisons the food. Screw it. [...]

linger at the secret stream of life,
kill the sacred angel with trust and night.
sail from our universe
so to not see me die
when she embraces eternity.
you smile and ask why,
influence heart and mind
with your beauty like delicious poison.
we must wake from this slow-dancing fever
regret this lie and understand
perhaps we will change in time
for there is always [...]

Please do not disturb
the sign said.
Door number one.
Please do not disturb. The slightest perturbation could kill the occupant, sitting still and small on the bed. A small look into her mind reveals a chaos which is brutal in its relentless attack on her consciousness. Somehow sanity finds a clawhold and struggles to keep it. [...]

Time passes, life snowballs, gathering debris and dirt, eventually smashing into a tree and shattering. There’s a chance to start again but it won’t be much like its old self. The pieces fall to be gathered by other snowballing lives…
“What’s with all the furniture?”
“It’s for you.”
He climbed out of the truck, slammed the door halfway [...]

…maybe it was the life.
or the sight of what had never been before
coming into being and so vibrantly making itself known,
the damp and the cold and the dim yet brilliant clarity.
I turn back.
…maybe it was that certain death.
or the approach of it, the sound of its footsteps
softly through wet leaves and gently kicking aside pinecones.
calmly [...]

They held each other close
with tears and promises
Bittersweet happiness
Exchanging those three words
He departed with promises of soon return
Holding their smiling picture
She stood alone, waving
Remembering those three words
He fought the War, remembering
tears, promises, and those three words
She fought her War, inside
hearing those three words
He sent her letters with
promises and those three words
She wrote back with tear-stained [...]

It is a cold, dreary morning, all gray and gloomy. The sky is overcast, and it seems it’s about to rain. Black lightposts line the sidewalks at regular intervals, accentuating the emptiness of the street, mocking my solitude. The gray sidewalk is lined with sleet. The cold is nearly unbearable, biting and stabbing with [...]