Juliet Cook
Unsettled
Every light in my house was flickering
for approximately thirteen minutes.
Then the radiator crackled until it broke
in half. The vermin began crawling out,
dragging tiny vermin corpses behind them.
The row of small matching light bulbs
above my bedroom mirror exploded
in order to ensure I couldn’t see myself
as the vermin methodically marched towards
me, fracturing my newly invisible floor.
Phantasmagorical Bloodbath
Hagfish in formaldehyde.
Cursed creature cannot swim
anymore or expel its own slime.
On display like it drowned
inside itself.
My friend wished to be invaded
by parasitic insects
so she could lose weight.
She pulled down your pants
and sat in the kiddie pool,
hoping a leech would crawl in
or otherwise take hold of her,
drain her of excess fluids.
When I saw a bloodsucker in my pool,
I almost passed out and sank.
Even though it was already dead,
I thought it could still attach
itself to me, eat me from the inside.
I felt the inside of myself
vibrating and glittering with blood
then drying out and quietly dying
next to a dead leech who couldn't get enough.
Nobody could hear me, as I screamed internally.
Panicking under my body suit bandage
which wouldn't stop dripping then pouring
out more blood. Turning the water red
until it overflowed.