The night has
razor claws
soused in horror.
It slinked
down back roads
and alleys
with a murderous man.
“Listen,” they said
“don’t go out….don’t go out alone.”
He stalked the bars
smiling in neon’s sordid dazzle
propped himself in the backlit shadows
behind restaurants
then slipped into
a young nurse’s apartment
his sharp knife glistening
with anger’s savage heat.
A young waitress
found in her bathtub
her blood pooled
in the cracks upon the floor.
Out on 79 South
secluded detour
dirt roads
junked school bus
county sheriff deputies
searched and found
the body count went up.
“Psssst….do you know who’s here?”
the nightly news
buzzed alerts
enlightened the public
flaring edgy nerves
as the gory trail of death
telecast between farm reports
and Reganomics.
Not ones to hide,
my friends and I
cruised our night paths
down Main Street.
I parked
my blue metallic
Buick Regal
pulled into the mall parking lot
8 PM in the dark of
an autumn night
stepped out into the silence
in new shoes
not once thinking
of madness and proximity
or counting the steps
from my car.
Meanwhile, somewhere
in the boundaries of a clueless city
a soulless killer treaded upon
the evening solitude.
I listened briefly,
no echoing steps
falling upon the pavement
but away
down the avenues
a killer managed
to pump screams into the night.
*Faryion Wardrip is a serial killer who is currently on death row. He was responsible for the deaths of four young women from my hometown and one other death in the nearby area. Wardrip was not apprehended for four of these murders until DNA evidence surfaced in 1999. He recounted to authorities the details of the rage that fueled the attack on one of his victims by saying he was out that night, “screaming at the sky.”
Chilling!
It really was. Thanks for reading, Holly.
Sent chills up my spine. There’s terrible people out there as well as good. We have to be wary who we allow in. 😊
Very true, Holly. xx
xx
Chilling indeed! I knew there must be a reason for words like this coming from you. Well done! I am almost finished with “Dancing with the Sandman” and have enjoyed it very much. More when I am done.
It was a crazy time, for sure. I feel deeply for families that loose loved ones like this. Good to know about the book. Can’t wait to hear more! 😀
Masterfully done.
Thank you so much!
Good one luitenant 😊
Thank you!
Chilling indeed…it hits close to home…how many times do we cross paths with those who go out to scream at the sky.
That’s very true. You never know about who is sitting next to you on a bus, subway, etc. Truly frightening.
So chilling, Lana. I have goosebumps. What a frightening thing to happen in your hometown.
It really was, Diana. We also had Henry Lee Lucas spending time in this town and “operating” nearby. He was in jail in another small town 25 miles from here. You really just never know.
Such evocative imagery, Lana. Really so tragic and sad!
It truly was, Jennie. I still think about that time. I know that is something that their families probably never recover from. It is just so heartbreaking.
Sorry to read that. Take care, Lana. Much love and prayers.
Wow! Well written and very chilling.
Thanks, Jennie. I just can’t fathom how one becomes a murderer. It is just so scary and so heartbreaking.
I can’t either. Their childhood must have been horrific.
So graphic, Lana, puts my nerves on edge just reading about it. You can’t live in fear, but thinking about you parking your Buick Regal at the mall and walking alone in those new shoes, praying not to join he ranks of the nurse and the waitress and the others… Thank God for guardian angels and DNA. 🙂
Holy smokes this was chilling Lana. The bite sized style you told the story was gripping, and the truth of it at the end was mortifying.
It was truly a scary time, Debby.The crazy thing is that he almost got away with it. A police officer was suspicious more than a decade later and reopened the case. By that time, the guy was married and living nearby in a small town an “unassuming life.” The policeman went to visit with him over coffee. After the meeting ended, the killer left, the cop took the cup from the trash and ran the DNA on it.
Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!! Just like in the movies! 🙂