[ Creepfest ] El Bautizar Del Indeseado

           
Pregnant, she opted for sanctuary          
            
---rusted Eldorado's air conditioning             
failed just south of the Mexico border              
forty miles ago          
             
Respite from sun proved to be          
a quaint little church and finding        
a mechanic was her second order        
of business; resting with feet up          
in the last row of warped benches              
exhaustion's quicksand pulled her        
under as she put aside the mental        
inquisition regarding how life        
had come to this        
           
A couple of perspiring altar boys            
paying her little attention             
hummed tunes as they swept             
eager to complete the chore            
and join the outdoor celebration        
permeating the stucco interior           
with music and laughter          
         
It was the Day of the Dead           
             
Having not slept for days
wishing for peace of mind              
she drifted into a heavy slumber              
submerged in silence except for            
voices that lingered after              
regarding difficult        
choices              
             
chanting              
in such a low murmur              
that she couldn't make out              
a single word          
             
but the more she               
strained, the more        
what she swore        
was being said          
over and over        
was            
             
hatred            
             
Consciousness regained in throbbing head      
              
hatred              
       
Slow fade of sleep paralysis       
     
hatred          
             
In a tone most ominous and twisted          
           
hatred         
        
Panic consuming her in a stampeding wave          
          
---realization kicking---      
     
she was a slave!          
          
hatred            
hatred                   
Tethers cutting tightly into tender wrists                 
hatred            
hatred              
Restrained ankles heavier than lead      
hatred            
hatred          
Enraged, clenching trembling fists              
hatred            
hatred                
Fastened to cold stone slab with bondage ties      
Black velvet drape across her eyes              
Cruelest of jokes ever to be played              
bare belly exposed, body displayed  
 
"Behold!"             
     
Through the fabric              
dark figures circling about                 
terror began to unfold
      
---she did wail              
             
an as veil was torn away              
wail turned to shout      
and shout turned to scream;     
flowered sundress she wore              
now bloodstained from hem to seam              
             
In the cavern surrounding the makeshift bed              
hatred            
hatred              
Cloaked figures continuing to chant              
around the lifeless body of an infant              
             
Witness to what forever should be unsaid              
Hatred!            
Hatred!              
The fragile thing dipped into a bloody bath              
pooled with cesarean aftermath              
       
HATRED!            
HATRED!              
"Witness the Christening of the Unwanted!"              
declared a hooded man of Spanish descent            
over the unborn she for so many months      
despaired              
             
Shrieking, groaning, writhing, moaning           
---none cared, paying her no attention---              
instead, filed out of the cavern of chaos              
one by one without a single mention              
she was abandoned to bleed out            
mere feet away from her aborted child            
and the more she forced herself to look upon            
the remains of what would have been her son              
             
the more she saw it smiled              
             
No deceptive trick of the light            
as red orbs emerged            
blinking within a fetal alien head              
             
Grimacing lips parted            
a snarling voice gurgled,            
I am your son, El Dread!              
             
Mommacita, won't you please love me?              
the creature blurted amidst hideous laughter              
I am yours until your dying day              
and I will haunt you forever after!            
             
She stopped just short of breathing              
lunging upright from where            
she had dozed off              
             
Across the room, the altar boys  
watched her race out the door  
into the night            
             
Bewildered            
they shrug to themselves              
continuing to broom the floor              
             
Behind the wheel of the rusty Eldorado              
HATRED              
HATRED              
Foot firmly on the gas pedal as she sped              
HATRED              
HATRED              
Couldn't clear her mind of the overwhelming              
HATRED              
HATRED              
Shouting voices in every corner of her head              
HATRED              
HATRED              
All that she felt for the thing in her belly was              
HATRED              
HATRED              
For the child that she never ever wanted              
HATRED              
HATRED              
And from out of nowhere              
came a Peterbilt truck      
              
smashing the side of the car              
             
She woke up from the blackout              
caused by numerous Tequila shots              
back to the hardwood floor              
in a west Texas honkytonk bar              
             
---same cattleman drunk on gin              
still urging her to join him              
in the backseat of his Eldorado              
             
She shoved him into a crowded table              
stumbling for the nearest exit              
amidst tears crying out              
El Bautizar Del Indeseado!            
             
A couple of sweating cowboys              
glanced her way in puzzlement              
elder shrugging to the younger              
before rattling the jukebox further              
hoping that damn scratched up record              
relentlessly skipping would be  
replaced with another