The Killer Heads North

Written By: John Grey

Even this far north,

I would rather the winds came

from even farther north.

Or from other worlds even.

Or from the stars 

if there are such things

as star-winds.

It’s those gusts from below

I fear.

Hot and blasting

through the Earth’s pores,

they pop up everywhere,

flaming spurts that threaten

to sear me to the core.

People are cold.

I am cold.

I can deal with that.

My shivery prayers

search out the route

to taciturn heaven.

But my path is thawed

by the underlying 

hell on earth.

One’s a reward for tedious goodness.

The other’s a fiery crucible for sinners.

One has a list of just about everybody.

One turns a spit with my name on it.

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in Midnight Mind, Novus and Abbey. Latest books, “Bittersweet”, “Subject Matters” and “Between Two Fires” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in Alchemy, Touchstone and Willow Review.