He wakes with a veil of fading orange sunset falling over his face. Slowly, he raises a hand, twisting it through the shards of light. There are no callouses. No dry cracks of peeling skin. It is ... [+]
David Rogers' poems, stories, and articles have appeared in various print and electronic publications, including Star*Line, Third Flatiron, and Page and Spine. His latest work is Roots of the Dark Tower: The Long Quest and Many Lives of Roland, available from Amazon. More about David and his work can be found at Davidrogersbooks.com. "Something" is in Short Circuit #04, Short Édition's quarterly review.
There's something in the woodsthe same thing that hidesin the closetunder the bedin shadows behind old housesamong weeds and empty bottlesin abandoned city lotsThe thing that will not tellits namehides on the edge of the mindjust behind the memoryof late Octoberon the smell of burning leavesashes in cold fireplacesdead yellow flowersjust before summerbegins its reign of terrorIt feeds on forgetfulnessand growsby what fallsfrom the turning grindstone of time