The trees will leave; when snow arrives
For all the leaves have already left
While we looked right for the Sun.
Once rays danced through town,
Music was unheard; beatless jigs seemed
Devil wrought and the folk screamed,
"What light are you! to have robbed us
Blind we are not! Bare branches hang
Solemn as gallows overhead; what evil
Replaced the green with red?"
Without pause, the rays swung from
Leafless limb to flowerless stem;
Offended and dignified, the rays parted
Leaving the town behind with haste.
Glad were the simple folk; sad, alone.
The gallows flourished in the dark;
Folkless town the leaves found;
Silent -
               They rotted in ground.

Unfocused,
The table appears
    strong
    sturdy.
When a lens
Is placed
Before eye,
The table appears
  rotten
    desecrated.

The infestation
Runs too deep.
Mahogany
Or oak,
The table
Is beyond saving.

In the woods,
A man built a cabin
So he could live
Freely from the trees.
His child died at sixteen.

His grandson was poor,
He sold the cabin for crumbs.
The buyer cut down
Every tree for miles
So he could live
Freely and safely.

His son wanted more.
He made the cabin a mall,
And put beetles in all
Of the trees left,
So he could live
Enslaved in fear
And in greed.

She sauntered to me,
Stealing air from my lungs
Steaming the room.

Strange how she
Suddenly held me
Staring into me.

Silently, viciously,
Sank her teeth deep
Straight to my soul.

Seductive,
Sinister,
Succubus.

Two PM on a Saturday,
Stepping into a shower.
Water so hot it feels cold
Running down the
Canyons of my skin.
Weight on shoulders,
The gushing shower head,
Whispering comforts
Creating a sense of peace.
Legs start to ache
As minutes accumulate
Weight becomes stifling,
Sweet shampoo smells sickening,
The shower head warps
Transforming into a snake
Wrapping around my throat.
Peace shatters into panic
As I slice my feet open
On the jagged shards,
Forcing me to collapse.