From ashes to headache
For some reason, somehow, someway,
she wanted secondsies, even though
the first order warranted a
participation medallion at best.
Regardless, she wanted another
order of the same stale,
sterile, old crap.
For some reason, I thought this time
would be different.
This time, she wanted me to come
over to her place—
A small house,
shared by five other
nematodes, inside a gated
community in La Habra.
It wouldn’t be in broad daylight,
no sir, it would occur at
the midnight hour, when
even the streetlights flicker
into a coma.
I parked in front of the gate
on the side street, killed the engine,
and waited for her to radio
the rendezvous.
Eventually, she appeared from the
gate in jeans, white t-shirt,
and a bomber jacket
to retrieve me.
It felt right.
“Where to?” I said.
“Follow me,” she commanded.
We ran through the gate,
climbing over the grassy hill,
dodging sprinklers,
and entered her frat house.
Her room was like a compact disc,
everything fits just right.
The bed was a queen (suits her status)
and before we knew it,
stripped naked.
dimmed the lights.
“Eat me,” she begged.
I smelled it.
And drowned.
Chris Mardiroussian is a Lecturer in the Department of English at California State University, Long Beach. His most recent book is a full-length collection of poetry entitled BLUNDER DOWN UNDER, which Chasing Shadows Magazine called, "A stark and raw style of writing that clearly constitutes the life of a typical miscreant." In 2019, he won First Prize in the Cinema Italian Style Film Festival (sponsored by the prestigious American Cinematheque in Los Angeles) for his short film entitled IL BREAKUP, which he co-wrote and produced. In 2017, he co-wrote a collection of poetry entitled HONESTY. LOVES. CRUELTY. His work has appeared in Bloom Magazine, BOMBFIRE, Horror Sleaze Trash, Incognito Press, Persimmon Review, Pomona Valley Review, Poetically Magazine, Skipping Stone Review, and elsewhere. He lives in Los Angeles, California.