Arcade: Round Two - Samuel Strathman

Playthrough of a foamy-

mouthed dog swaying

along a crimson

streaked alleyway,

fresh cuts oozing

from her abdomen.

The owner stands

ten feet away,

taunts his pet

with a dripping blade.

Bloop, bloop, bloop.

Round two begins.

The stunned mongrel

snaps to, grits

her sabre-teeth,

a natural born predator.

Combatants headbutt

their way out

of the alley

to tequila stars –

cosmorama of beaches –

pandemonium of sirens.

The knife comes close,

but the hand is mincemeat

in under a minute.

Sparky laps up dinner

as the washout rolls

in a puddle

of his own filth.

He screams, prays

as the eldritch

dragon-swoops in.

D.O.A.

Samuel Strathman is a poet, author, educator, and editor at Cypress: A Poetry Journal.