Part XXVIII A & B & Andrew Smith - Movement in the Dark III

(On the day of my birthday actually - here are two of my favouite pieces so far following directly on from the last piece with a third piece from my Brighton friend Andrew Paul Smith - Movement in the Dark III)

A

Coughing in the sunset
the sudden burst of light
fused the lights
for almost two minutes

throwing everybody
in the area
to the ground 
like they had been Rugby tackled

breaking windows

shortening engines of
passing buses and cars

freezing the village
for a good few seconds 

before vanishing 
like a magician's trick

and leaving two
what could be men
stood there in shock

while the world 
shivered around them. 

B

Standing nearly in the light

They were thrown backwards

Some of them sliced

Almost in half

By the exploision

Like molten ice melting,

Forging their hatred

Into steel

Before splitting

Some into dust,

Some into the river

Never to be seen again

And the one

That escaped

Into a taunt line

Disappearing into

The nearby tunnel

Crying in broken agony. 

****

Movement in the Dark III

I tried to move with slight and ease

Not wanting to disturb a thing

Every muscle wanted nothing more than to seize,

Grazes covered in slime starting to sting

I had no sense of time or direction in here

Just my heart beating its impending sound of doom

And as the scraping sounds emerged once more something was suddenly clear,

This nightmare was sure to conclude very, very soon.

It came with a speed far beyond that of man

My throat squeezed between elongated fingers and curved nails.

But my found resolve, I knew, would force me to fight back as best I can

My heavier weight lifting it up despite protesting squeaks and wails.

Desperation and anger found strength now unbound

As I flung this man-rodent against the tunnel wall

The crunch of bone and split of sinew a resonating sound

And then nothing, for what seemed an eternity, nothing at all.

I waited a long moment, resigned to swift resolution from the nest

But it seemed as if I was singled out by only one

And so I didn’t wait around to theorise this test

I had to act now, gather evidence and so for this to be done

The body was dead and broken, but easy enough to drag

so I pulled with all my reserve and might

As the bodies of my colleagues dimly came into view my legs starts to sag

And I thought ‘what would everyone make of this grisly sight?!’

At least I had the proof of slaughter

The beast with my friends' flesh between its maw

At least the police should most definitely give me quarter

Along with the statement of events I saw

As I started up the ladder, the light seemed so bright, almost painful like a burn

The sounds from above so loud against strangely pointed ears

And my teeth! Growing sharp and long, and the thirst...for what was this I seemed to yearn?

The thought of the public suddenly greater than all of my past fears

I found myself sniffing the air, tasting a scent, my now stretched nails curving around

Now I understood, from a clawing graze, this undiscovered race, one for one, in this sewer

My fate now forever bound.