Flatline
By Mark Hammerschick
Sideways
rain
belches caustic thunder
lighted supernova
hang ten dude
ride that wave
through the view
of a hollow lens
like an eye surprised
by lost sight
monitors
buzz, rattle and roll
a body
squirms
knowing it will soon
be worms
eyes glazed donuts
tears
fears
deers in headlights
then
gone
a flat green line
in the gloaming
gone
What We Are Afraid Of
By Mark Hammerschick
Death by fire.
Pancreatic cancer,
how it breathes.
Deception.
What you thought is real is not
only shadows on cold, hard concrete.
Russian mobsters
who enjoy slicing fingers, tongues and eyes.
Being alone.
Being alone in Bogota.
Spiders.
Prostrate cancer.
Change.
All the constant brutal changes.
A complete obliteration of a 401k.
Death by drowning.
Unemployment.
Pandemics unleashed.
Alzheimers.
Outliving my savings.
Flesh eating disease.
Dark, moist, millowy places.
Not knowing when the DOW hits 50,000.
Tornadoes and earthquakes.
Salmonella.
A wife’s criticism and complaints.
Amputation.
Suffocation.
How all these fears add up
to a cataclysm of annihilation
as we watch our earth explode
at the speed of light
sending us scattered
like a Higgs Boson element
accelerating into eternity.
Mark Hammerschick's poetry will be appearing in The Metaworker and Breadcrumbs Magazine. He writes fiction and poetry and has been published sporadically. He holds a BA in English from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and a BS and MBA. He is a lifelong resident of the Chicago area and currently lives on the North Shore. Most of his professional career has been focused on digital strategy and online consulting as a digital architect and transformation strategist.