Issue 158, Volume 15
December 2011

Shelter

by Bruce Whealton

IT WAS LIKE YESTERDAY
when I met this vampire and
nearly moved in with him.
He offered a place to stay.
He drank from me for 24 hours
leaving me in a dream-like state.

I still see those teeth
and that shiny bald head.

I was amazed at how
he controlled that dog of his,
too amazed to notice how I
slipped into some trance
from which I might never
have awoken.

Somehow I escaped
without a scar -
I can barely find the puncture wounds
wounds – it seems like it
was just a dream.

For a while there
he followed me -
no, it wasn't my imagination;
others told me
they saw him
following me.
I'm not sure why
he gave up
some time ago.

Bruce Whealton has been the co-editor and publisher of Word Salad Poetry Magazine since 1995 and their newest publication, Haiku Ramblings. They publish both on the web at WordSaladPoetryMagazine.com and in print. Bruce has a Bachelors Degree from Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master's Degree in Social Work. He has been writing and studying poetry for many years with various mentors. His poetry has been published recently in The Horror Zine, and the associated Anthology called “And Now the Nightmare Begins: The Horror Zine. His poems have also appeared in “lines written w/a razor,” “Childe Bryde,” “lunatic chameleon,” “the thin edge of staring, “Chance Magazine,” Venus Rising, the Wilmington Star News' Port City Poets, and “Gravity Hill,” and “Simple Vows Anthology” which is put out by St. Andrews College Press.