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Vacant Intersections
by Alan G. Phillips, Jr.
We met at the intersection
Between daybreak and dusk.
To share life in the shadows,
Scents of lilac and musk.
In dreams and then outside in the world awake,
I gave in to my passion,
And she avoided the stake.
On the edge of our country sits the vacant motel
Where those lost at the crossroad find life in a shell.
When the cock meets the sunrise and starts its new mourn
Cars pass us daily, seldom honking a horn.
Then night works its magic, as we rise in the dark
To the faint sound of crickets or distant howls.
Eyes glow beyond midnight;
Is that the screeching of owls?
Pale forms join together
Barely making a sound.
Sometimes there is space;
For those who check in
Near the tombs of unrest
That seek blood from a guest.
© Phillips, 2010
Alan G. Phillips, Jr. currently teaches at Millikin University and Lincoln College at Normal in Illinois. He lives in Bloomington, Illinois with his wife Ronna and two dogs, Max and Reba. His short horror stories, "The Phoenix" and "Marzipan Man", have appeared in the small-press publications Gathering Darkness and Moonletters. Writers who have influenced him include Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King and Dean Koontz. He continues to write poetry and short stories when he isn't working hard to encourage his students how to become better writers and thinkers.