by Megan Lanphere
Ghost Riders
The hoofs beat along the path behind you.
Breath is coming in short gasps
while your lungs are screaming.
You like to believe you can outrun them
but it’s like running up a down escalator.
You know they will catch you.
They cannot be outrun.
They will lower their guns and raise the lassos
as they tip their hats and crack that whip.
They were pulled by the beacon
You weren’t meant to be lost,
but by chance you were noticed.
You try negotiating; bribery,
but they see and they conquer
Taking no notice to who you may be.
It won’t matter in the end, anyway.
As your loved ones will have no memory of you
and your belongings will fade into nothingness.
When you reach your dramatic…
Death?
No, not death, for you will still live on.
In another world
With others whose existence
Was erased.
Never before did you foresee this outcome.
It was an old wives tale; an urban legend.
Meant to scare children on a dark night.
But now it’s real and you’re paying the price.
As the rain crashes down
and lightning shatters the sky.
For they have come,
the riders of the storm,
and you’re next.
You Are
Standing together in that murky water
Under the cursed kissing bridge
Ready to face the evil that lurks within
Victory awaits; will it be yours?
In your mind you’ll be trapped
Viewing the horrors that haunt your dreams
On your way, two - three - will be lost
Ready to face your fears for a final time
Struggling to accept the fact that you are
s u r v i v o r s
Night Terrors
The rain splattering across the fog-tinted windows
Hard and quick splashes coming in succession.
The moon is looming ominously
shining down upon the lost souls of the night.
The small jerks as another pothole is hit
the dirt of the road draining away in the flooding.
The cliff face that acts as a wall
trapping you with a sense of dread.
The sky lights up with a whispered whip
and there she is seen along the rock.
Her hair drenched and tangled
falling over her face and past her shoulders.
The paleness of her face is standing out
among the cracked red that coats her skin.
Her dull eyes that have been sculpted from coal
reflect the zaps that tear through the sky.
She’s watching you as you drive by
none the wiser of her presence there.
You miss the sign to her left.
weary and worn,
stating the dead end that you will not leave.
The car rolls to a stop as you become encircled.
The short brown stalks of what was once corn
is on your every side as the rain gets heavier.
The darkness settles around you
as it dawns on you that this is it.
The shadows move in until you’re suffocating
on your own bated breath.
Then the sun shines through
as you gasp for breath and jolt forward.
Only to feel the coldness of the sheets
below your shaking fingertips.
And you close your eyes and breathe.
While you let the warm rays wash over you.
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