Came in the form of a murder room
Covered entirely in plastic
One dimension inside another & the
Victim strapped to the steel gurney
Illuminated with one strong beam of light overhead.
Inescapable trial of past transgressions
All plastered on the wall in front of him
Remind him of old self
Confessional to higher power
Edenic to the prison he finds himself in.
The stranger comes out of thin air
Dark clothes & apron, old gloves
& face mask, each cosmic sublimation
Out for detachment. The stranger’s meticulous
Construction three-dimensional in the frame
Forward, backward, up & down, heeds the victim
To Look
To look back at the past, prisoner of present just shakes his head
The stranger warns he will cut the eyelids of his face
He panics, no layers or veils hide him now
The stranger warns catharsis is confession of the time misguided
Between the past & future, between time trapping human existence right here
The blood pulse.
The stranger takes off his mask to reveal, the reflection of self
To the man, who must wake-up in his ominous epiphany of carnal essence
Who he knows himself to be, predator waiting for time to swallow him whole.
Shawn Anto is 23 years old from Bakersfield, California. He’s originally from Kerala, India. He currently studies at Cal State Bakersfield looking to receive his B.A. in English & Theatre. His writing has been featured in Orpheus literary journal.
