Showdown By Jake St. John

Tonight

they come 

looking for blood

from all directions

no escape

this time

so I let them 

have it all

I give up 

my flesh 

to the wolves 

of night

stars shining 

like teeth 

tear open wounds 

moonlight bleeds 

silent across 

the bedroom carpet 

like a crime scene.

Jake St. John lives in the woods on the edge of the Salmon River. He is the author of several collections of poetry including Lips Leave Scars (with Jenn Knickerbocker, Whiskey City Press, 2023) Ring of Fog (Holy and Intoxicated Publications, 2022), Night Full of Diamonds (Whiskey City Press, 2021), and Lost City Highway (A Jabber Publication, 2019). He is the editor of Elephant and is considered an original member of the New London School of poetry. His poems have appeared in print and online journals around the world."