POETRY BY DEVIN M. ANDERSON

Devin M. Anderson is a southern California boy at heart, born and raised. Now he haunts a tiny little town nestled between the corn fields and sporadic forests of southern Illinois. An author, poet, devoted husband, and stay at home dad to two beautifully brilliant autistic kiddos, he travels the road to healing from Borderline Personality Disorder and CPTSD.

His work has previously been featured in the anthologies: Hotel Macabre vol.1, Sleeve of Hearts, Piece by Piece: An Anti-Valentine’s Day Collection, Tales From The Lark Side, and The Horror Zine Magazine’s Spring 2025 issue, as well as appearances in Morsus Vitae, The Horror Zine, and Alien Buddha Zine ezines.

To find more by Devin check out his YouTube and blog at:
https://youtube.com/@devmanderson
https://devmanderson.wordpress.com

DREAMS

Another day of the forever war
Against the doppelgänger behind my eyes
I wipe away yesterday’s tears
And the dreams that dried there
Died there
Upon my cheeks
Like motes of possibilities lost
Hide them away
Those beautiful crazy dreams
Let them not wet my sleeves
Hide them from my demon twin
Lest nightmares they become

FOR SARAH

I love you.
Without knowing how.
My forever-ever crush, born on a fiery March day.
Your machine gun laugh rings my soul like
Pavlov’s bell. I adore you.
Obsessively.
Stringently.
Our love is painful at times, but worth every moment. Most of all, our love is eternal.
Even in parting, I hold you within me forever.
Love is to be willing. Willing to die. Willing to kill.
But most of all, willing to live.
Live every day, from now till the end
with you.
Throughout the pangs of life. And the beauty.
I love you without understanding, for I need not understand what is carved into the very meat of my heart.
Into the ethereal fabric of my soul.
I love you.
You are my everything.
My always.
My steadfast companion through this hellish landscape before us that spans from birth to death.
But I believe.
I believe in love that goes beyond this world into the next.
We are written in the stars above.
And I’d follow you into hell,
like you did for me,
any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
I love you.
Wife. Best friend. Soulmate.
You make me strive to be a better man.
Thank you for that most of all.
Be patient with me, for I am damaged.
But I’m healing,
because of you.
Sarah, steadfast and true. Honest to a fault. With your razor-sharp Vulcan logic.
We are twin souls
woven together through eternity.
You were the rock that I clung to as the waves crashed over me. Let me be your rock now.
Let me hold you and tell you everything’s gonna be okay. Because everything’s gonna be okay, my Love.
You are astonishing.
You are truth.
You are.
And I am,
because of you.
I love you.

BEDLAM IN FLESH

He stands before you
Five foot nothing
Eyes ablaze
Handcuffs dangling from
Fingers bent at
Impossible angles
Made possible by the
Brutal self-determination of
Ripping cuffs off
Already broken hands
Narcotic skull bombs explode
You blink, and he juggernauts you
Like a fucking garbage truck
Speeding through your intersection
Meat mitts pounding
Grappling, biting, frothing
Howling gibberish through
Busted lips and the
Blood soaked spit mask
Self inflicted, the cops said
The cops who dumped him on us
To babysit
But this is no baby
Madness unleashed
Shit covered and
Vomiting forth obscenities
“Restraining without injury” now
Nothing more than
Words on paper
It’s hurt or be hurt
Jesus! He bit me!
Hold him down for God's sake!
Needle in the glutes
Intramuscular injection 101
But the haldol isn’t working
Then the pop happens
That sickening, sucking pop of his shoulder
As it dislocates without pain
Blood-slick, your grip slips
And he’s swinging again
One hand like a sledgehammer
The other, a limp pool noodle
Hold him down for another shot
Sedation sets in
Bedlam fading
Sobbing, he promises
To kill your family
Before sliding into unconsciousness
Like a warm bath
The chemical demon sleeps
Inside this cage of sorry flesh
So much blood
But a wounded soul
Is harder to heal
Than any laceration
I mourn the walking dead
Those stranded in addiction
Strapped to a gurney
With leather restraints
PCP is a helluva ride
And he barely met the height required
Because he's only seventeen
And the nurses are crying
In the ambulance bay
And you drink yourself to sleep again
To shut out the screams
Of the damned