An Encounter With Dracula

From where I sit in a white monobloc chair,
Her face is pretty, sympathetic, calming as
Her white apparel. Between us are two people.
One moves closer to her. Suddenly, I see her
Eyes glint with mischief. She grows fangs; I
Sweat. Profusely. Dracula drops her disguise!
She draws fresh blood out of her victim. And the
Next. They do not die; but I will. And she is coming
For me. No escape. My feet get cold; my knees
Weak. This feeling of drowning after the boat
Capsizes…I am about to lose consciousness
In the belly of the ocean. Then Dracula calls
My name. She gets a rubber rope, tightens it
Around my left arm. Next she sticks out a long,
Pointed object. Like a snake’s fork-tongue,
My dizzied eyes tell me. Very long, very thick.
Longer than my courage, than the hours I spent
Bracing for confrontation with evil incarnate.
Deeper than my faith, the bottom end of the
Ocean will siphon my breath. The blood sucker!
With my heart in my throat, my sweat on my
Upper lip…My breath ready to escape me,
I plead for my sanity, for my life. Too late. Too
Late. The fork-tongue poked deep into my
Vein, I feel the prick. Then peace follows
As blood oozes out of me. I am in a boat peacefully
Sailing to sea, dancing to the music of the waves
Beneath, blending with the hum of the breeze
Above. I must be dead now. This is Nirvana.
Just as I slumber away, Dracula pulls out her
Fork-tongue. I feel like I stepped out of the boat
Ride- disappointed that it is over, emboldened
By the near-death experience. She wets a cotton
Ball with alcohol and presses it on the skin where
She buries the long, thick snake-tongue that is now
A short, thin syringe before my eyes removed
From fear. With the voice of a mother putting
An infant to sleep, she says, Come back on Tuesday
For the result of your blood chemistry, Ma'am.

cld/2006

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