AVENGER
I know
something about
opening pimpers and whores
I know
how to kill quietly
and mop up
bloody wooden floors
I know
how to hide body parts
behind my cabinets and drawers
Clipping the strippers
Clipping the strippers of their spinal cord wires
Their stunned paralysis inspires
Inspires me
I like
laughing at lap dancers when they’re tied to chairs
I like
listening to harlots when they make their final prayers
I like
watching while they clutch their throats for air
Avenger’s happy in the dark
Avenger’s come
Avenger’s come to take away your mark,
devil’s mark
devil’s mark
I am the Avenger
******
ABOUT:
Peter Gabriel’s song, “Intruder,” is one of the creepiest “crime poems” I’ve ever heard set to music, so I wrote the dark homage above as my contribution to “30 Days of the 5-2” — a special guest blogging marathon, with a new poem or article posted each day of April — in celebration of National Poetry Month.
I’ve contributed to the 5-2 several times in the past, including a poem and online reading of it (“This is How I Murdered the Librarian”) and last year’s extensive NaPoWriMo celebration of Angel Zapata’s excellent work in an extensive essay (“Outlaws at the Treffpunkt”). The 5-2 is an awesome journal and I hope you’ll check them out regularly, and support their ebooks (editor Gerald So will contribute the income to Academy of American Poets this month).
