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The stars are coated in milk

They show their knife points

Pinpricks as if in a child’s bedtime picture book

They appear between the black slats of the rigid leafless trees

I have to stop and hold my stomach

The sudden yet momentary ache of true life

The path is wide and mostly straight

A carriage road of elder mist

I can see the high hump of a hill in the distance

The moon sways at its point in the sky

It burns white

Visions of others ahead

Two figures stopped on the road

Black coats, blue pants

Fat, bramble molested shoes

Odd scarecrow caps on heads

The people are somewhat bent there

Looking down toward the ground

I see one head slightly turn to look at me

There’s a cupped hand to the other’s ear

I hear a faint whisper clearly

“Someone’s following us…”

I never meant to

I was just going my own way

Then another emerges

From within the thick panic of the forest

It isn’t human

It slaps at the wind and roars

The night is interrupted

Some wayward force from somewhere else

Making its indelible mark

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Special thanks to Edge of Humanity Magazine for publishing three of my poems recently: Coffee Shop Rain, The Translucent Wander Pain, and Space Curtain. Please go check them out! Also, a reminder that my new e-book is now available for purchase: The Apocalypse Pipe. The print edition will be available soon. Thanks for reading and supporting independent creators.