Blood, Treading
Blood began
glittering red
throbbing book
My eleven body
caught out
flicked a switch
I guess I must know
about things
now
Pieces in a jigsaw,
humming.
Source: King, Stephen. The Shining. New York: Signet, 1977.
Welcome to Hard Times
Can I tell you about the time
I spent my thirtieth birthday
in the bughouse ?
Some kind of a nervous breakdown.
Bills and death on the end
of a phone call.
Person to person.
Hospital whites, but it
was fine.
My mother and sister
brought cake to the
long plastic day room.
I wore designer shoes.
My proof that I was
(never never never)
fine.
Source: King, Stephen. The Shining. New York: Signet, 1977. Print.
Adult Thoughts (A Sort of Sonnet)
1. Let's tell the truth here. 2. I'm really not alright. 3. I'm
alone. 4. The way things are and the way things should be
hardly get together. 5. Good people die in bad, painful ways.
6. There are things no one can explain. 7. You’re not a
kid anymore. 8. Everything will be fine, just fine. 9. Do you
really think so ? 10. Worry crosses state lines. 11. There will be
other books. 12. The taste of great American writing
makes me sick. 13. How many times, over how many years, have I
asked for the mercy of a second chance ? 14. I’ve seen
things.
Source: King, Stephen. The Shining. New York: Signet, 1977. Print
Sarah Nichols lives and writes in Connecticut. She is the author of four chapbooks, including Dreamland for Keeps (forthcoming, Porkbelly Press, 2018) and She May Be a Saint (Hermeneutic Chaos Press, 2016). Her work has also appeared in Queen of Cups, Rogue Agent, and The RS 500.