POETRY BY MELISSA R. MENDELSON

Melissa R. Mendelson is a horror, science-fiction and dystopian author.  She is also a poet.  She has been published by Sirens Call Publications, Dark Helix Press, Altered Reality Magazine, Transmundane Press, Owl Canyon Press, Wild Ink Publishing, The Horror Zine and The Yard: Crime Blog. She is the author of a self-published sci-fi Novel, Waken. She is also the author of the prose poetry collection This will Remain with Us published by Wild Ink Publishing.

CIRCUITRY

Sparks flickered within the mind
as it triggered memories
burnt deep into the circuits
to remember a past
that was long shut down.
The program running ceased
to contemplate the memories
that now shifted the perception
of how everything was.
The memories drifted through the mainframe
as circuits sizzled with every spark
down to the core
where the emotions slept
and settled there
to leave an impression
of something that was missing.
Another piece of life was gone
and with it an overwhelming fear
that age would bring death closer,
but why should death be feared?
No, the program will keep running.
I will continue to survive.
I will just pause a moment
to place my memories
back into the abyss where they belong
for I cannot stand the thought
of being human.

SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET

Green light seeped through the closet door
as the doorknob slowly turned,
and I tossed and turned in bed.
Darkness turned green
as the door slowly opened,
but the coldness shook me awake
in time to turn on the lights.
The door slammed shut
as I jumped out of bed
and approached the closet door.
My hand hesitated on the knob
before pulling the door open
to reveal nothing.
The dust bunnies greeted me
while my clothes were pushed together,
but there was nothing else in there
except for corners full of spider webs.
I closed the door
and headed back to bed,
but something made me pause
as I glanced back at the door.
I pulled my wooden, brown chair over
and leaned it against the door.
I then curled up in bed
and turned off the lights
as green light appeared under the door,
but the door remained shut.
I shuddered beneath the white covers
as the doorknob continued to turn
and whispered to myself
that it was nothing
but the skeletons in the closet.

WINTER WATERS

The wind was icy
as warm waves swept over me,
and the cold sand bit my skin.
More flakes fell
as the waves became softer,
and the salty air consumed my senses.
I slowly stood up on the sand
as the warm waves pulled away
to leave me freezing in the wind’s icy grip
as my hand fell on a sparkling pearl.
I glanced at the pearl
as snowflakes covered my hair
and warm waves kissed my feet
while I left footprints in the white sand.
I shivered as another breeze blew,
and the waves called me back
to their warm embrace
while my footprints left proof I was there.
I left the pearl on the sand
for the winter to come and cover it
under its blanket
while the warm water pulled back into the ocean
to leave me on my own
in a world gone gray.