Living In A Depression Era Poem by Bianca Fiechter

You are there,
I know it,
I feel you,
Sense you
Following me.
Stalking, stealthy, quiet.

Your breath
Raises hairs,
Tingles the skin.
My neck and shoulders
Contract,
Attempting smallness;
Invisibility.

Your breath reeking with
Odoriferous identification:
Disembodied rat limbs
In putrid feline vomit.
Soiled infant diapers
Disintegrating in an
Emerald lined dumpster,
Leaking into a shimmering
August morning’s puddle.

You are the grey
Unfiltered cloud of
Mosquitoes borne to
Uncivilized cities.
You are skyscrapers
Of thin, balding, steel walled
Junkyard towers.

You are an accidental
Encounter with glossy
Black bear fur.
The urge to touch, stroke,
Almost irrepressible.
Suppressed only by dangerous,
Deadly consequences.

You are with me as
I wade through the murky,
Knee deep, black ink of night.
Tripping me,
You hold my head under
Until I stop thrashing.
Pulling me up,
Your desperate darkness
Fills my lungs, cells,
Heart, drive……
My try.

I hate you and
Your simple power
To step on my
Determined resolve.

I spin on my toes,
Trying to
Outsmart-
Out time-
Outwit you.
Yet all that is there
Is not tangible;
A dissipating cloud of
Sarcastic laughter…..yours
Trudging, heavy, patient footfalls……
Mine.