All Your Body Would Sell

These tired eyes weaken,
waiting for the blood letting to begin.
I feel all that I was, seeping,
Waiting for the end.
I remember your lips,
but not their taste.
When love rips,
all is laid to waste.
So goodnight, farewell.
Serenade me with one more lie.
I paid for all your body would sell.
I paid for a dream so high

copyright 2007 salvador cordova

Curious

“Oh God! Oh God! Please...please...stop. Spank me. Oh God!”

Damn it. Three nights in a row now they’ve been going at it like monkeys. Couldn’t they at least be quiet? Danny thought. I’m trying to sleep down here! Danny’s wife slept soundly beside him, oblivious to the thumps on their ceiling, the slaps against flesh, the pleas to God. Danny placed his pillow over his face but could still hear her. Please, oh God, please. Begging Him to do...what? And Him! Spewing orders at her. Do it now, do it now, yes baby yes, that’s it. If things became quiet briefly, Danny could even hear His breathing. Slow and calm. Deep methodical breaths which seemed to absorb her along with all the air in the room each time. Each breath taking something away from her.

As the screaming, hitting and thumps on the floor continued, Danny wondered what exactly was happening above him. Sometimes the woman’s cries aimed at passion, false passion. Veiled underneath Danny heard pain in the woman’s voice. Sometimes she’d remain quiet for several minutes then inexplicably begin screaming again. And who was she? Only a single Hispanic man lived upstairs and Danny never saw any women with him or heard anything before this past few nights. Maybe she was  a prostitute ... for three nights in a row? The monkeys continued above and Danny became keen to every scream and whisper, hoping to gain a clue to the mystery above.

Danny heard steel clash against steel, more moaning and squealing. He heard flesh striking flesh, hard. Then Danny heard Him, his voice such a low, delicate whisper it was almost inaudible. Danny laid motionless in bed.

“Say it.” Danny heard another slap, this one harder.

“Yes Daddy, What do you want me to do Daddy?” Her voice sounded weak and beaten. “Kneel in front of me.” Danny heard her moving, each movement sounded hesitant as she crawled towards Him. Danny heard her adjust her knees, they were now directly above him.

“Bow your head.”

“Please no, I’ll do anything, please.”

“DO IT NOW!” It was the first time Danny heard Him raise his voice. Danny thought he heard the girl crying but he wasn’t sure. He imagined teardrops clinging desperately to her cheeks and lips. Then he heard something hit the floor followed by something heavier crashing down. Then nothing.

Danny didn’t sleep the rest of the night worried what might have happened.

The stereo alarm kicked his wife awake. She turned to hug Danny and found him intently staring at the ceiling. Danny never woke up before her. But Danny was waiting, quietly, patiently. Waiting as he had all through the night, waiting for a sound from above. He wanted to hear a moan, a scream, a good morning, something to tell him everything was fine. Anything. His wife dressed, ate breakfast and left for work. Danny remained in bed feigning sickness. Danny laid there, holding his breath at intervals, scared to make a noise that would force him to miss a sound from above. He waited to hear her voice. Say good morning, say it. Nothing.

The End is Not Near, the End is Here

After that day, after Louis pushed me through the portal and shut those horrors from this world, I promised I would never speak of what I experienced that day. Who would have believed anyway? I kept that oath for almost thirty years. Then Louis knocked on my door.

I recognized him immediately even as my cancerous and dying flesh reflected alien in his eyes. He looked the same as he did the day before we made that mistake. I fell to my knees hugging his legs and kissing his jeans. In the same muddy voice I dreamt of, he asked me to stand and could we step inside; I rose quickly and let him in shutting the door behind him. He stood just inside our home looking anxiously around. How the world had changed. I reached for him and kissed his lips. He returned the kiss with the same passion I longed for but as I kissed on his bottom lip the meat fell off into my mouth. I opened my eyes looking straight into his gums and teeth as his lips where gone. I spat his lip from my mouth and once more fell to the floor holding my stomach as it evicted all of its contents on the floor.

I looked up at him. With a wave of his hand across his face his lips reappeared as if nothing occurred. “I apologize. I should have warned you. I no longer have the power to control much here. Time has been more than cruel to me.” I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and stood again on weakened legs. “What do you mean? It’s all over isn’t it? If you’re here it means it’s all over.” Louis looked down then turned away from me. “I thought I could win. I thought I was doing a brave thing. That day, after the hell we went through, I thought I could finish it.” I walked over and stood in front of him. “You did. You saved me. You saved us all. If you hadn’t stayed behind and guarded that gate who knows what they would have let loose in this world.” He raised his eyes to me. “You don’t understand do you? If I’m not there watching the portal, who is?” Surprisingly, I felt no fear or apprehension. No nervousness. I had him and that meant all. “It’s ok we’re together now Louis. How long do we have?” I watched the trail of steam as a tear rolled down his face and pulled his face to mine and gently kissed the tear away. I felt his heat. Smelled my own burning flesh.

“I just wanted to see you, to hold you again. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I . . .” I stopped him. “You have nothing to apologize about. I’ve regretted every moment since I let you push me out. We’re together now and that means all to me. I don’t care what happens to this world or to me as long as you are with me.” I could hear the screams of the people outside. I felt the ground shake as buildings tumbled and the giants set foot on our world. I kissed him again. I held on as tightly as I could. His flesh fell off again but this time I swallowed because I knew that would be the only way I could feel him inside me again. And I was happy. For the first time in so many years I was happy. Louis gave himself to me as he always had. He burned inside of me. My insides giving way to his fire but I continued. I loved him that much. He protected us for as long as he could. Hiding us from their minds and nostrils. Until I left nothing of him.

When the marauders broke through my door, with their oval heads and eyeless faces and mouths on their hands, they found no trace of the Louis they hungered for. I put up no fight for I would die happy and I would die with him. To hell with this world.

Copyright 2010 Salvador Cordova