He took them off the street

Like they were nothing but his meat

It did not matter if their eyes were green brown or blue

He just wanted tender and new

He had a cage in his basement where he´d keep them fed

They knew their destiny without the words actually being said

For all around them hung hooks and sharpened knives lay on tables

Bare light bulbs hanging from dirty old cables

He never spoke just pointed and shoved

There stood a man who had never cared or ever loved

His heart like the cold grey stone floor

Stained from his many crimes before

To him they were animals nothing more

As he grabbed one naked kicking and screaming from out the cage door

He pulled as handfuls of hair were ripped

He lifted and reached as the shiny hook gripped

While it screamed and squealed in pain like a hog

He stroked its hair as if it were a dog

Then sliced its throat from ear to ear

Its face now frozen dying slowly in fear

He crossed to the table and took a new knife

This one was for slicing not for taking a life

Slowly and skilfully he carved at its chest

He liked that cut from all the rest

Upstairs in his kitchen a frying pan herbs and oil

A little time in the oven the rest in his fridge wrapped in foil

He sat at his table opening expensive wine

Now he´d hunted it was time to dine!

-------------------------------------

© M.Withers/M.Strudwick . All rights reserved.

Both the name The EriduSerpent/EriduSerpent

and any written material is owned solely by the above named.

Permission granted for all written material to be shared but not for profit.

Printing or publishing is prohibited without seeking permission first from said owner.

To boldly go . . .

It was a phrase I'd said

Every night as a child

With my head tilted upward

Toward the distant stars

But I find myself repeating it now

With amazement

And new appreciation

As I watch the flashing lights

On the display board

Slowly change from red to green

I imagine I can hear the hiss of escaping air

As the great hatch opens

Feel its rush upon my skin

Despite both readings and common sense which say

The enviro-suit's protective seal is still in place

And the sounds are just extraneous noise

From the oxygen pumps strapped to my back

Then as the view unfolds

The adrenaline hits

And I feel myself trembling

With that heady mix of excitement and fear

That precedes a journey into the unknown

A whole new universe lies

Outside that door

Beckoning me

Challenging me to seize the dream

And boldly go . . .

I have come so far

But I must grow

So gently, urgently

I push myself through the portal, and

With no tether left to hold me back

Take my first small step

Outside the cradle

The universe expands before me

Life can never be the same

#poetry #SF #boldly go