Nicholas De Marino
chanting down Samhain
bare prayers and skin
strip spirit’s veil
— Mme. Belle
sweaty hands transmit
Morse code and hot readings
— M. Belle
poker faces
frowning through
stale dairy air
— Mr. Gall
ectoplasmic message:
buy more cheesecloth
— Mrs. Wheeler
sunken seats
cradle ghostly curves
stiff as a board
— Mr. Wheeler
candles flicker
so does patience
— Dr. Gall
*
table rattles
as dropped pens tattle
footsie below
— M. Belle
she toes an inseam
capillaries swell
— Dr. Gall
croissant moon scatters
light crumbs
on dark fabric
— Mme. Belle
buckles and buttons strain
against tapas and vino
— Mr. Gall
colliding forces
her orbs on the table
oh so tacky
— Mrs. Wheeler
a glimpse of woman’s virtue
through deep-cast fishnet
— Mr. Wheeler
legs cross
lovers double-cross
pheromone harvest
— M. Belle
earthly apparitions
bound not by vow or ether
— Dr. Gall
*
parlor games plied
by silver tongues
and spectral phallus
— M. Belle
stoking and stroking
spirited affections
— Mr. Wheeler
night bloom peels
perfume laces nostrils
plants peddle must
— Mme. Belle
taut nerves and skin strain
as clockwork keeps time
— Mr. Gall
sonar or later
empty skulls echo
childish adultery
— Dr. Gall
spirits yawn unroused
by desperate hands
— Mrs. Wheeler
NICHOLAS DE MARINO is a neurodivergent writer and poet. He’s got several writing credits, degrees, and accolades that have nothing to do with cats, plus some that do. Read more at nicholasdemarino.com.