Fallout (Crank 3)

and some exotic bloom.

The scent fuels my hunger

for her body. I want to own

it, merge with it, become part

of her. Hurry, she urges. But

the tease is almost the best

part of the game, so I bring her

close and closer with my hands

and mouth and finally I am inside

her. I can’t get enough, so we go

and go until the only thing left

is to finish. And still I want more.

Autumn Rose Shepherd

SOMETIMES I SEE FACES

Somehow familiar,

but I don’t know why.

I cannot label them,

no matter how intently

I try. They are nameless.

And yet not strangers.

Like Alamo ghosts, they

emerge from deep

of night, materialize

from darkness, deny

my sleep. I would call them

dreams. But that’s too easy.

I SUSPECT

One of those faces belongs

to my mother. It is young, not

much older than mine, but weary,