The Unspeakable Word (Hunger Beyond Hunger)

soundtrack (put on loop)

The Unspeakable Word

 (Hunger beyond Hunger)

Licking my lips,

I watched his mouth move

In the moonlight

He was mocking and laughing 

At a once pretty girl

Accosted on the street

As he'd hurried off to mischief.

She was far beneath him,

(I could tell by the cut of his clothes,

By the shine of his shoes

His proud regal bearing

And his beautiful face)

A woman of the night

Who sold herself like matches.

Like pastries on the baker's cart

Or papers that the barking boys

Tried desperately to sell

Before the streets cleared of daylight

Leaving the night folk to appear

She sold herself like merchandise

No longer feeling she had worth.

It was not her, though

That held my interest

But the man she flirted so piteously with

Who disdained with feigned gentility

And shook his head and laughed

As he pulled his tailored coat tails

From her thin and hungry hands.

Finally resorting to begging,

She saw his eyes go cold

And he flung her away as though a rag

And threw something at her feet

I watched her scramble as he hurried away 

Hoping to find some coinage

But finding only refuse, she fell on her knees and wept.

I followed him down darkened streets

Where my footsteps made no sound

Listening to his boot heels ring

On every cobblestone

He did not know I shadowed him, he was not of me, aware

He swore some oaths, he wiped his clothes

To remove the smell of her.

Pulling deep on a silver flask,

He returned it to his pocket,

Stopped to watch some partiers

Whistle to hansom cabs for hire

He knew that he would not go home, had no wish to go

Or to a mistress waiting with sleepy eyes
 And soft hands, for his touch.

But before that, he knew the night

Would bring him other pleasures

A victim to calm his own blood lust

With the daggers in his pockets

He turned to find the discarded girl

She would do as good as any

The black bag heavy in his hand as he smiled an evil smile.

He took his time and I took mine

As my hunger drove me onward

I  knew what I wanted, I wanted him

But it was a long, slow chase

I had to be careful, had to be on my guard

For there are those who aren't kind

To me and my kind.

He stopped there in the moon's glow

As though he'd heard a noise

 In silence I glided behind his back,

Heard the blood rush through his veins
(And the sound made me go mad)

I breathed him deep into my lungs, intoxicated, impatient

 My mouth begged for the taste of him, my body, for his blood.

For I, too, am a woman of the night,

A creature of the darkness

But I do not beg, I only take

And sate my endless hunger

Slake my thirst on those I find delectible

Like this handsome cold hearted fool
 With his greedy, wicked eyes.

Who are you? he cries. You're beautiful!

And I lower my lashes, pretending to blush

He caresses my cheek that's as cold as white marble

As his will bends to mine and my hypnotic eyes

Pulling his body against me, deep in the shadows

I feel the knives in his pockets, feel his heart racing

But he does not and will not ever feel mine.

I am so hungry, I'm beyond hunger!

Like an animal now, I howl at the moon

The man in my arms, though wild with desire,

Sensing some danger, begins to fumble and fall

But I push back his hair, exposing his throat

And I shush all his whimpers, whispering

Don't be afraid.

Then I feel him give me the sum of himself

All life loses meaning before this moment in time

His wife and his mistress, both waiting in vain

Behind their sad and neglected doors

But it matters not to me to see that he's full of avarice

I feast now with my hunger unleashed

 And a soul that's simply --------.

 

©by Voo Shining Stone

Sept 4, 2020

12:07 a.m.

Written in response to a Poets Dream word prompt

in which we could not actually use the word.

********************
And what is the unspeakable word, Readers???

😮😲 🙄