HORROR MATSURI #6 / INSTINCTS POETRY #13
How is it Week 4 already? Time to crank things up! We have 3 posts this week, and 4 coming next week…Stay tuned!
Today I’m sharing my own freestyle poem. I was inspired by the Indian and Persian myths of a creature similar to a sphinx or chimera, with a lion’s body and a human face: the manticore (mardykhor). Sounds creepy as hell to me…
RUBIES & GOLD
Kelly Matsuura
My shamshir sings.
The human head of the beast,
sliced from its feline body,
rolls into the shadows.
I, fall before my kill.
I tear the mardykhor’s flesh
with my own bare hands.
Meat, skin and sinew tossed aside,
rich blood coating my fingers.
The beast’s last meal, my treasure.
Its stomach is hidden,
high up under
Hell-forged ribs.
Dense bones are cracked;
putrid yellow pus, erupts.
The stench
does not deter me.
My fingernails bleeding,
ripped violently from their bed,
do not deter me.
I find her then,
my dearest Rayhaneh.
Crushed, frangible bones.
Soiled jewels–her rubies and gold.
All that remains.
I will bring her home.
~~~
Kelly Matsuura grew up in Victoria, Australia, but always dreamed she would live abroad. She has lived in China, the USA, and now lives permanently in Nagoya, Japan.
Kelly’s stories have been published by Harbinger Press, Black Hare Press, A Murder of Storytellers, Ink and Locket Press, and many more. She also publishes her own short story collections, The Natura Series.
As the creator and editor for Insignia Stories, Kelly promotes Asian speculative fiction from writers around the globe, and publishes small ebook anthologies with various Asian fantasy themes.
Kelly’s blog/website: www.blackwingsandwhitepaper.com
Facebook: Kelly Matsuura-Author
Twitter: Kelly Matsuura
Horror Matsuri continues tomorrow with a flash story by Therese Choon!
Follow the Horror Matsuri schedule here
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*Featured image from Deposit Photos
INSIGNIA STORIES 
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