Word starts getting around about Danny's Coffee Shop--
A girl wearing black fingerless lace gloves and her skinhead boyfriend walk in and he stands right in front of the Succubus,
Snapping pictures with his phone
As the girlfriend swipes her dyed black hair out of her face and giggles.
The Succubus once owned this place. She was the first.
Then she got stupid over Chloe, and though they still share the air,
They are like buses at a stop--
Never touching and bound in opposite directions.
"I've become a Point Of Local Interest," thinks the Succubus as her ashy heart turns over in her undeniably perfect chest...
"I've become a demon in a zoo."
In one motion, she stands up, all seven glorious feet of her, and spreads her black wings,
Knocking over everything within her wingspan;
Soon the skinhead's phone is dust and the silly girlfriend's skin has gone all to hell--
Well damn,
Sorry about that, kids.
The Succubus strides out, imperial and evil,
And everybody just steps back.
Nobody has seen her like this in months.
From rooftop to rooftop she moves in the frozen night,
Until she finds the place she was looking for...
In she glides, like a knife drawn from under a peasant girl's skirts, and slid into a wound,
Killing the priest who accused her.
She is here to enter the dreams of the woman who sleeps before her,
A genuine beauty,
Alone,
Hers for the plucking.
When the Succubus enters someone's dreams, their dreams turn sweet beyond imagining--
It's just that
They will never have another one.
Pity that.
Together they rise, they join in this wicked illusion,
But then,
The Succubus smells smoke.
No, it's not the Boss.
The space heater has set the blankets on fire and the place is going up...
The Succubus looks at her prey, whose name is Angeline, and she can't help herself,
Can't stop herself...
She alters their dream to one of cool water, pitchers of cream poured over soft skin, all things soothing and sweet-scented.
She wraps her body around Angeline, but not as she had planned to do--
She carries her out onto the balcony near the fire escape. All she needs is a goddam day-glo yellow helmet and an ax.
The freezing air wakes Angeline and she makes her way down, down,
To the street and to life.
Around dawn, the Succubus walks back into Danny's Coffee Shop.
The Queen of the Vampires starts to crack wise, but is stopped by one lifted finger with its razor sharp red nail.
"Don't," says the Succubus,
And sits down where she was when the camera kids came in.
She is not the same.
Time will reveal whether this is a good thing or not, and time is one thing,
Along with a deep, black melancholy,
That she has plenty of.
She curls one foot underneath herself
And folds her wings back in
As if they were her dark intentions
Brought back to the roost like bats.
___________
Oooh yes!
ReplyDeleteLove it Shay. But then, I love all your stuff. You can write and will forever read :) Deal? :))
Loved every syllable, Shay. Loved so many lines, but I won't pick it apart. Instead, I'll just savour it.
ReplyDeleteYou. Totally. SLAY me! Fantastic tale.........love the busses going in opposite directions and, most especially, the "dark intentions, brought back to the roost like bats." So brilliant.
ReplyDelete''As if they were her dark intentions'' .. she is one intense chica
ReplyDeleteShay, you had me riveted reading this one!
ReplyDeleteI know - very cool. :)
ReplyDeleteI need to learn more about these characters--they're more real than money. I just got home disgusted and tired, but now I feel I may be able to take a few more hours of banality, as long as there is stuff like this to read.
ReplyDeleteShay,
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my favorites. There's so much to like:~)
I loved that Succubus changed her plans. It's make me wonder if there's the memory of a heart inside that dark winged body.
My favorite lines are:
"They are like buses at a stop--/
Never touching and bound in opposite directions."
"And folds her wings back in/As if they were her dark intentions/Brought back to the roost like bats."
WOW. That's a great description.
I enjoyed this one very much:~)
Is it time for an intervention?
ReplyDeleteI'le have what your having...on the rocks with lime....it is an amazing thing what you do Shay....your own dreams must be awesome! I also love the line they are like two buses at a stop, never touching and bound in opposite dirrections....some powerful imagery grows in this garden!! :-)
ReplyDeleteis there a waiting list for the dream visitation?
ReplyDeleteI'm left with this concept of the "point of local interest." That tension between foreign/familiar.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment today, lovely! Getting ready for the holidays?
Oooh, rich! I had to laugh at the "well damn, sorry about that, kids" part.
ReplyDeleteYou should write a screenplay, my dear. :)
these are always my favorites. I've just caught up after several days (you may be the only one I get a chance to read today). some sort of undercurrent flowing through you.
ReplyDeleteHave missed Danny's - that's how I met this fantastic writer Fireblossom
ReplyDeleteI wish you would write a book!!!
More angles to the Succubus - I say tat's a good thing
Hugs from a mere Moon
Love this! Love your blog! Love your attitude! Happy to be meeting you. Dani @poetpassionbakr on twitter
ReplyDelete