Saturday, August 26, 2017

The Howling

i had most of the adults fooled

the family was easiest
they were none too bright

what little smarts i had
i must have got from my father
and he was never in the picture

i can only guess
the monster
came from him
too 

next were the teachers

the math and science teachs
just thought i was a punk
bad apple

the english teachs actually thought
there was something interesting about me

they'd tell me to do shit like
join the drama club
or hangout with
the band kids

they just thought i needed the right
friends

there was only one adult
i couldn't fool

Mr. Bristol
gym coach
jarhead
meathead 
with a brain the shape of a crew cut

but that son-of-a-bitch had a nose for me
he was on to me

he was on to me from the start

for years
he said it with just a look

i'd get it the worst in gym class
but if i ever passed him in the halls 
he'd mean-mug the hell outta me

it was so much that
he followed me from middle school 
to high school 

everyone said that
it was because he got a raise

i knew it was so he could keep an eye on me

and finally the day came
where he stopped policing me
silently

i have very little memory
of what happens when the monster comes
but one morning i awoke with the faint recollection of Ms. Guthrie screaming
through her kitchen window 
and black and white furs
where my claws were

at the end of gym class
Bristol told me to stay back

i stood by the door so i could run
just in case he tried to beat the shit outta me

after everyone else cleared the locker room 
i could feel him looking at me
i could feel the hate

"ya know Ms. Guthrie, Price?"

"yea"

"she told me this morning 
that last night she saw something 
in her backyard
and whatever it was
it ripped her cat to pieces"

i just stood there
staring down at the artwork
on my Guns N' Roses t-shirt

"i'm on to you, Price"

i was scared
this was it
i was caught
Bristol was either gonna turn me in
expose me for what i was
or take matters into his own hands 
and murder me himself

"get out of my locker room"
he said

i kept waiting for the other shoe to drop

at first i waited for weeks
with his deadly stares in class
and the halls
wondering what the hell was taking him
so long

then months
then years

i was convinced he was waiting
until i stopped expecting it

or maybe 
he was scared of me
and was just working up the right plan

but
he never did

Bristol never exposed me
and he never took it upon himself
to put me down

but today 
they put him down 
under six feet of dirt 
in the Grace United Cemetery

Bristol knew what i was
Bristol knew that i would always be
what i am

what Bristol didn't know
was that i like what i am

i love what i am

and tonight
when the monster takes over
i'm heading over to Grace United Cemetery
where i will piss on his grave
and howl at the moon

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