John Sara

Roy’s New Beginning

 In the back of an ambulance,
you caught your first glimpse of death,
the eyes dimming, heart monitor beeping
like the whisper at the back of your head;

(kill, kill, kill)

—fading to a flatline.

They say the man on the stretcher
killed 13 people in one night—
died by head wound; machete
or axe.

(Jason, his name was Jason)

You’ve never seen a bigger human being.

You hold his hand like you would your child's,
cold, stiff, imagining them stained
with blood, driving blade
through flesh like a knife
cutting birthday cake.

Your son, they said, was kind—
Maybe there were times he thought
about you, who you might be.
Hid those feelings
behind a mask.

You imagine he waited for the day
you’d come back, as if you’d emerge
from the woods, arms extended,
a machete in hand as your only apology.

John Sara is a writer from Parma, Ohio. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Ashland University, where he teaches as an adjunct and serves as the editor-in-chief for The Black Fork Review. His work has been featured in such places as Maudlin House, Blood+Honey, Bending Genres, BRUISER, Cul-de-sac of Blood, and more. His debut poetry collection, The Poet Who Cried Monster, was published by Alien Buddha Press in January of 2026. You can follow him on Instagram @darkbat616.