Jazz at Midnight (by Christopher Hivner)

Jazz at Midnight

The road at 1 a.m.
was only a traffic light
giving out instructions
like a good soldier
even when no one was around to obey them.
He watched from the window,
a guest in his own life.
Music played a few rooms away,
the jazz that she likes.
He likes it too
if she says he should.
A car finally drives up the road
and keeps going past his house.
His hands slide back down the window
through a cloud his breath left behind.
A wailing saxophone breaches his thoughts.
God, how he hated this song,
or loved it,
depending.



“Jazz at Midnight” originally appeared in Halfway Down the Stairs [2010].

About Christopher Hivner: I live in Pennsylvania, usually write while listening to music and enjoy an occasional cigar outside on a star-filled night. I have recently been published in Yellow Mama, Eye on Life Magazine, Dead Snakes and Illumen. A book of my horror short stories, The Spaces between Your Screams, was published by eTreasures Publishing. You can connect with me at www.chrishivner.com or on Twitter @your_screams.

A Coded Message (by Christopher Hivner)

A Coded Message

I opened the book

to the inside cover

finding an inscription,

her handwriting

the plangent confession

of a false person,

outlined words

written by a hand

cold to wisdom

and redemption,

transcribing a message

as though drowning,

mouth held open

by shards of

broken glass

making sure her throat

filled with liquid

one way or another.

I read the note

several times,

each and every word,

between the lines,

left to right

and right to left,

with my eyes

and with my heart.

It was translucent and

as thin and sheened

as wax paper.

The book shifted

between my fingers

as the words unraveled,

dripping from the page

onto my hands,

and when I looked at her,

she had melted

behind her smile.

About Christopher Hivner: I live in Pennsylvania, usually write while listening to music and enjoy an occasional cigar outside on a star-filled night. I have recently been published in Yellow Mama, Eye on Life Magazine, Dead Snakes and Illumen. A book of my horror short stories, The Spaces between Your Screams, was published by eTreasures Publishing. You can connect with me at www.chrishivner.com or on Twitter @your_screams.