Cary Briel

I run my hand
up to places
I knew not as a child.
Mick sympathizes
on the speakers,
while I ask myself
what world that is
I see in your
fluttering eyes–
You left me
for seconds.

The sun does not flirt
with me anymore–
Snuff out its flame,
the dominion I wore
for many a day.

Away with the moon,
with its cycles of night–
How wearied I am
by its mimicry of light,
its stealing away.

The upper, the lower,
the first and the last
shall be over.
The ship with its mast
shall be one with the sea.

Alpha, Omega,
depart from my sight,
you cruel, lovely house–
Put away might
and come back to me.

Life ticks upward and dives,
an old rollercoaster,
the wooden kind,
with its creaks and groans
and its cedar rails,
we scream and moan.
Look, there’s my sister,
just tall enough,
the boys would kiss her–
but I turn and say,
as tears fall away,
not today.

If we erase
everything that
can be erased,
we’re left
with what can’t–
love.

Shudder you heavens,
for I weep–
Hear me,
you who stand
above the heavens.
He is revived!
His heart is kind
and meek
and true.
He has remembered
his rib
in his sickness.
He has remembered
her face.
Father, what fool
has penned this madness?
Plunge your hand
into the Deep and lift
my angel.

I heard of a man
who came into town
with his guitar in hand
and he killed the town clown
and his momma found out
and she got awful mad
’til he wrote her a song
’bout a clown who was bad
who made all the kids cry
’cause his makeup’d run
when the sun got real hot
and he stole away fun
’til that son came along
with a look in his eye
and he choked that old clown
now his momma knew why


Moths fly to
flames, so subtle,
irresistible–
as aged watch,
heartbroken,
with faith of
brave, small things.

The Cross Dresser, chapter 4 posted.

Link:

http://thecrossdresserbook.com/2010/08/22/chapter-4-mommy/

All chapters so far:

http://thecrossdresserbook.com/the-book/

Excerpt:

It seemed hours had passed in complete silence, Kate still huddled under the covers, listening for any sound from the old madwoman. A turn or squeak of the doorknob would’ve announced the door had opened, if it had. But, it hadn’t. This offered some comfort. And yet, Kate still had a bad feeling. The problem was, the room was TOO quiet. Kate had thought to peek out from under the covers, but this conjured a terrible scene in her mind. It was the type of scene she’d seen in horror movies many times. In Kate’s version, the old woman was now standing inches from her bed and its lump of blanket, completely silent but looking. And, waiting for the chance to terrify the little girl hiding in the lump.

The Cross Dresser, chapter 3 posted.

Link:

http://thecrossdresserbook.com/2010/08/21/chapter-3-evil-things/

All chapters so far:

http://thecrossdresserbook.com/the-book/

Excerpt:

The bathroom light was still off. Nobody’d been in since The Old Stovepipe shut the door.

Most days, Kate walked up the street for lunch, spending the half hour with a sandwich and a Pepsi. Not today. Her stomach still felt sick from the morning’s fiasco.

Flipping on the light switch, she scanned the bathroom from wall to wall. It was empty, just as The Old Stovepipe had reported.

As public bathrooms go, this one offered little in the way of luxury or amenities. Toilet, sink, mirror, plunger and TP. That’s it. The toilet lay directly ahead of the door. It’s the kind of toilet you’d find in your bathroom at home. Shortly after Kate had started at the liquor store, The Old Stovepipe hired a plumber to drill the tank’s lid and secure it with nuts and washers, when scheming customers kept screwing with its internals, causing continual overflows and malfunctions. The sink is your basic, white, porcelain model you see everywhere, with its plumbing exposed beneath. Above the sink, a single pane mirror is bracketed to the wall.