Nathanael grabs the spear. He shuts his left eye to place his prey in his cross-hairs, then releases the javelin with Odyssean accuracy. But the creature parries. The spear gets stuck in the heart of a warrior in a painting that the king had commissioned 15 years prior.
A woman coughs up blood in the ICU at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles where her husband stands next to her bed, rubbing her back, helping her expel pink phlegm into his handkerchief. At a table for two, at nearby diner, a deep voice punctuates the greasy air that smells of Saturday Night’s Special:…
We’ve wandered into the maze of the Minotaur— a chemical chimera that pursues synthetically manufactured routes deep inside labyrinth folds in our skulls with no way out where pleasure is the highest good. “Made” we’re told “to conquer mountains that wait to be subdued.” Our Maker— the Succor— sovereignly sneezes, washing…
Gentle Jesus. Born a King. You laid in a foul feeding trough, appearing to many as humbly. O Precious Prince, you were hunted down and brutally beaten like a lamb led to the slaughter. O Beautiful Savior, you were so brave to die for me. Prior to your divine…
Not your Precious Moments figurines
but sleep-deprived warriors
with holsters for concealer and coffee.
Quick on the draw to conceal lines on their face
and savor the passing whiff of a fresh pot percolate.
The story of Salvador is complete! It’s taken me 20 years to write it, taking time off in-between to attend several prestigious seminaries to educate myself on the seminal topics of the novel, such as psychology, theology, philosophy and ethics, which have all influenced its themes, such as suffering, hope, doubt, despair, courage, paradox, faith,…
Vampires as a whole mock the celebration of Christmas on December 25th, knowing that it’s merely a placeholder on the Julian calendar. But don’t mistake these vampires for blood-sucking atheists. They believe wholeheartedly in the power of Jesus’s blood. They observe Maundy Thursday as the most important day of the year. Conversely, on that day, true believers partake of the sacrament of communion as Christ showed them what it truly means to be devoted to God and to each other. But for these hideous creatures, the body and blood of Christ are a means to an end of survival. They believe Jesus to be the last prophet in “the order of Cain” these last 1,500 years, to save them from one called “the Impaler.”
“When I was ambitiously young,
looking to grow my Nebu brand
and my Chaldean kingdom,
prophecy struck:
“an invisible hand hewed a rock
from the Mountain
that struck the base of the fountain
that raised to life a statue
with metal alloys and clay parts.
A strap hangs off her missing shoulder—
a pragmatic prostitute at a makeshift bordello
where there are no curfews,
rules or chores
only dark alleys and cardboard boxes
to claim and explore…
“The gluttonous full moon shines a wide-angle lens at the ocean’s curvy body below. Warm, salty hips give birth to an El Niño storm….”