dancing girl press, 2015
$7.00
Rhianna Marks is a recent graduate of Oakland University in Rochester Michigan. She majored in English and Linguistics and hopes to go on to get a Ph.D in English. This is her first published work. She has lived in Michigan all her life, and now lives near Detroit with her fiance and two cats Ginger Boy and Smoky.
The Roar in the Darkness
Something brought me awake from my dreams.
So I crawled into the shower, and after,
as the steam rolled out the window,
a sound, a distant roar, carried in from
out of the darkness, like a crowd’s hum
buried in with the bug rhymes --
I sat on the toilet, even as the steam
turned to chills, listening.
What lay out in the darkness beyond
apartments and houses, late-night dog
walkers, parked cars, cluttered garages, broken
patios, nestled in the stunted trees,
following the pot-holes and asphalt
by the garbage-filled shore, lit up by casinos
under the stars that can’t shine through
-- My eyes drifted shut as the last drops
of water evaporated. The scent of
soap dissipated. My dreams crept
back to me and the sound faded
as I sought the warmth of my bed.
