in Derry, a town that doesn't exist

in Derry, a town that doesn't exist

 

 

blown up

grown up

 

pieces of brain 

splattered all over Maine

 

the text is in a dark mood

a kid's game

then Gerald's game

 

a King dethrones himself

in a wicked kingdom of fright

 

the cat's eye glows

Tripps over his own curiosity

and then leaps

 

into the pages

of a fever

 

it's not love this time around

but some made up town

 

in which the janitor

is the only one who knows

 

just how the story will end.

 

and this writer was a kid once

but he strangled fairy tales

until his adolescence passed out.

 

 

erin-cilberto

10/24/22

Reviews

[Red Brick Keshner]

Back in a place we used to live for the longest time was a place called Derry. It was right next to a place called Bomaderry. And we'd drive through to the southern coastal towns, sometimes for lunch or to gas up. There are also towns in between that have totally disappeared and that brings on a whole experience. I remember running off into the scrub to search for pebbles and clover and whatnots. And those days are gone now, much like the last stanza. And so shall 'strangled fairy tales' haunt this old geezer's watering hole, days that are fast approaching. Cheers j. Enraptured reading.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

great story, Frederick....
maybe some day those towns will reappear...and look exactly the same but be different....sort of like Pet Cemetery....Churchill the cat...looked like him, but.

[Vertigo Cat1111]

This is breathtaking. The whole thing is beautiful and builds up but that last line? Wow, chilling relatable and I loved the substance of everything else here. A perfect Halloween poem, I love the line about Maine, super cool references all over here. So many of your work that I read gives me that feeling of ‘wow, I wish I wrote that!’ Your writing is so admirable and clear. And yes, while fiction is scary, it’s messed up that real life is scarier. Thank you for sharing this. It’s a master craft of words, I believe.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, Vertigo...
I wish I were a master, but thank you,
j.

[Relic]

I'm reading Salem's lot now. :) King was always my favorite horror writer.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I just wish horror would stick to fiction.
thank you, Tim,
j.

[Relic]

Sadly, I know what you mean. A student was shot outside my old high school yesterday. And I had just thought to myself, it would never happen there. Welcome.

[softlyfall]

I was so confused because my head would not move from Ireland to the east coast of America until I reread the whole thing. Then the King morphed from Longshanks to Steven and the light light bulb went on over my bemused head.
Not that I wasn't still confused. Pop culture was my nemesis on Trivial pursuit.
And Gerald's game is so scary. Really scary.
But it was worth the fright because the last stanza rocks. The whole poem is great but that brought it home.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

But if it took you to Ireland, I am pleased...

Yes, fiction is scary, but real life today is just as scary if not moreso.
thank you, Amy,
j.

[W. Barrett Munn]

Who among us could not have followed the King had we not quashed imagination underneath necessity? A fun visit Jacob

Winston

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Winston,
j.

[Patricia Wedel]

Good intentions have become Insanity… sweeping the Cobwebs of Humanity. On a Clear Night .. the Moon Cries…!softly, Pat

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, it is doing a lot of crying.
thank you, Pat,
j.

[Coyote Poetry]

Thanks to Stephen King. I am scared of coastline Maine. I watched America Horror. Again, Derry showed-up. Thank you for sharing the amazing poetry my friend.
Coyote

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, Derry...and maybe Castle Rock?
thank you, Coyote,
j.

[Coyote Poetry]

Either one Jacob. Stephen King gave Maine, a fine reputation. You are welcome.

[Chris Shaw]

This is a horror story, pieces of brain scattered over Maine. Some pretty gory imagery here J. I hope you have been influenced here by reading fiction and not by current affairs. You mention a ling so maybe the link here is Stephen King :)

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, a mixture...fiction influence and modern day situations going on....a sickness like in The Stand...
Putin, Trump among others...

[light and ashes]

I see you are a fan of Stephen KIng, I have some of his books on my reading list.
Firstly, It, then a few others.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I liked him more in his early days....
I think he has a tendency to rest on his laurels...read moreI liked him more in his early days....
I think he has a tendency to rest on his laurels...
but he is good for a poem.
thank you, light
j.

[light and ashes]

You are probably right.