Tales from the Rails — Billy Clover #2
Wind, rushing past both my ears like I’m falling
Fast, from the heights of a perilous cliff.
Screaming, but laughing, the feeling enthralling,
Holding the hand of the one that I’m with.
Warm summer air
Whipping her hair.
Lost in the moment, another forestalling.
Sun on her cheeks and her nose and her lips.
Quickly, the water below rises toward us,
Churning and yearning to lap at our skin.
“Clover,” she laughs,
“Let’s make it last.”
Holding our breath, and we crash through the surface,
Fully consumed by the love that we’re in.
…
When my eyes open, our hands haven’t let go.
Evening sky blooming with glistening stars.
“Do you?” he said, and “I do” came the echo.
We kiss and bid our old lives “au revoir.”
Our marriage draws
Raucous applause.
Fire erupts in the air o’er the meadow —
Fireworks celebrate all that is ours.
Crackling and rattling the Earth with their booming,
Daintily raining upon hallowed ground.
Sat by a tree:
Stacey and me.
Suddenly, fireworks no longer looming:
Cherry trees, blossoming, petals abound.
…
Then, all at once, they’re not flowers, but showers.
Holding her hand, we await the bad news.
Doctors inform us. The sickness devours.
Losing her now is a fate I refuse.
Letting me go,
Her breathing slow,
Fading, her final words stand like a tower:
“Sweet Billy Clover, I’ll always love you.”
Kneeling alone in the snow, I place seashells
Gently atop her grave, one for each year
Spent without her.
Gurgling stirs…
Is it an angel or is it a death knell?
Haunted, the ominous sound evokes fear.
…
Lurching awake underwater, the dream fades
Instantly as I perceive both my lungs
Desperately crave air, and panicked thoughts cascade,
Rivers of terror rush up to my tongue.
Bubbling screams,
Churning bloodstream.
Memories flood back: I recall events played
Out on my train, and the beast I’d undone.
After the monster had fallen, defeated,
Foolishly, I thought I’d handily won.
But I was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
Soon came a second, which angrily greeted,
Grabbed me, and shrieked at me, leaving me stunned.
…
Squirming and thrashing, attempting to break free,
Into the darkness we steadily slip.
Kick of my leg and a hard thrust of my knee,
Dastardly fingers I can’t seem to strip.
Efforts in vain,
Energy drained,
Down, toward abyssal depths the demon drags me,
Cradling my life in its villainous grip.
That’s when I see it: The moon shining brightly
Framed by a circle — a portal below.
The creature swims
Toward the gate rim,
And I concoct an idea that just might be
My ticket out of this consummate woe.
…
Clawing my way through the portal, I splutter,
Coughing up water and gasping for air.
Dragging the monster behind, heart aflutter,
Grabbing a stone, I then say a quick prayer.
Black eyes appear
From water clear.
Timing important, nary a shudder,
Now I must wait for the moment with care.
There! As it hoists itself up from the portal,
Calm, I rear back and projectile throw.
Soar in an arc,
Hitting my mark.
Sideways, it tumbles — the impact is mortal,
Causing the water from its head to flow.
…
Satisfied that I was safe for the moment,
“Survey the scene,” the next task on my list.
Moon high above in celestial enthronement
Shone on the cave through a crack in the schist.
Terror then dawns:
I spot the throng.
Sleeping, a den full of monsters to foment,
Finding myself quite alone in their midst.
Rather than give my mind up to surrender,
Something inside of me bolsters my nerve.
“Billy, my dear,
You don’t end here,”
I hear my Stacey say, softly and tender,
Dressing my psyche with posthumous verve.
…
Silently tiptoeing, seeking a way out,
Holding my breath to prolong my own life.
All of a sudden, an explosive payout
Cuts through the quiet — an audio knife
Rings with a BANG,
Roaring refrain.
Where did it come from? The clangorous fallout
Rains down around me in colorful strife.
BANG — I look up and I — BANG — spot the culprit:
Why are the fireworks in this dark place?
Gurgling sounds
Rise all around.
Monsters are waking, I realize with dulled wit,
BANG — overwhelmed by the unlucky case.
…
My only recourse is — BANG — try to vanish,
Hide from the beasts as they howl and thrash.
BANG — I take shelter and fecklessly banish
Thoughts that I might now be breathing my last.
“Baby, be brave,”
Stacey would say.
“You were not made to end here in outlandish
Circumstances such as monsters amassed.”
But I’m not brave, and the — BANG — creatures find me,
BANG — and I whimper and — BANG — know I’m done.
“I’m on my way,
Sweet Stacy May.”
BANG — fear is blinding, and — BANG — they’re behind me,
BANG — comes the shrieking, and — BANG…
