Shallow Grave

I awoke in a shallow grave

Scalped and with a bullet still

Swirling around like the blood that

Is now mixed that of the other bodies

Shaking them didn’t wake them

And I knew better than to make noise

My accomplice left the air hole where needed

The one ray of light piercing through, my guide

Gently opening it, minute by minute

Listening with each twist of my fingers

Nothing, the coast is clear

It’s time to run, dirt spilling off me

And multiple strains of blood washing me down

From the crepuscular showers blessing

This very holy night

Despite the lack of direction, finding the chapel was easy

Our new God has escorted me through his signs

Through the poison ivy and invasive species

Those endemic belong to the local Gods

But we exist for a higher purpose

My accomplice was waiting for me by the chapel

With its pastel tombstones littered around

The rotting trees and their low hanging Spanish Moss

As instructed, I removed the bullet from my chest

And forcefully, shoved it down his throat until

His last breath, finalizing the ritual

The door to the chapel opened

Led to the altar by the spirits of

The forgotten victims decomposed in this swamp

My new God fashions a crown atop my scalped head

To rule, in his name, over the missing bodies,

The unwanted flora and fauna so that

Our revenge may be instant and brutal