Audience Participation
The billionaire showman
of the carnival his father bought
forces us into a ring where we fight for scraps
and betray our friends for the chance
to survive another night in the land of horrors
The showman gives us piles of bones for bedding
We eat the tendons and scraps for breakfast
until the bone shards in our bellies
hemorrhage
slowly and surely
The affluent audience laughs
at the display of our desperation
because they don’t realize that they’ve become
part of the show
Beneath Unsuspecting Feet
Shadows thrive beneath
unsuspecting feet
Vines trap and feed
Forest arteries
Image description – the photo is of a hiking trail at Robius Landing Park in Virginia. Along the trail is a tree with long vines that wind into an intricate knotted pattern. There are shadows on the dirt trail. The bushes and trees lining the pathway are a healthy shade of green.
For this short poem, I made the forest the hunter, taking what it needs from all who enter. The beautiful parks and hiking trails of Virginia continue to inspire both my fiction and my poetry.
Christina Lynn Lambert 