as I child I never feared monsters in the fog
no dragons no ghosts no zombie mobs
but on those nights with the whiteness so thick
the world ended beyond the hood of our car
Mom drove at twenty miles per hour
so we could follow the lines in the road
no sound but the grind of tires
and Mom’s muttered prayers
no birds no trees no people
only endless cotton-thick cold
the most fearsome sight in all the world:
two glowing headlights straight ahead
dragon’s eyes piercing the darkness
spectral tendrils of fog fleeing the light
the moan of slow tires as they lurch away
and past us, again claimed by the night
“We’re almost home,” Mom said as a chant
her pale hands clutching the steering wheel
no dragons no ghosts no zombie mobs
a car is monster enough on a night like this
Beth Cato is an associate member of the SFWA. Her work can be found in The Pedestal Magazine, MOUNTAIN MAGIC: SPELLBINDING TALES OF APPALACHIA from Woodland Press, and several Chicken Soup for the Soul books. For more information, visit http://www.bethcato.com.
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6 Responses to “FOG MONSTERS • by Beth Cato”
Comments
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January 14th, 2011 at 7:44 am
Yes, Beth, the quotidean IS the dragon, and try as one might, impossible to escape. Knights have a helluva time trying to keep maidens from it.
January 14th, 2011 at 9:09 am
I liked the imagery, and I could feel the mood and picture the situation. However, I kept feeling meter and then it slipped away, leaving me feeling slightly frustrated. This may be what you intended.
January 14th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Oh yes, we have those here too in Aus! Them monsters everywhere!
Nice one, Beth. I enjoyed the child’s perspective. Happy writing!
January 15th, 2011 at 2:39 am
Brought back memories of when we used to have real ‘smogs’ as a child, with uneasy journeys home. Very evocative.
January 15th, 2011 at 4:53 am
Five from me; this poemn kept me riveted with its chilling atmosphere and vivd imagery.
January 15th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
I enjoy the imagery throughout (I read tomorrow’s poem first and was amused to see ‘cotton’ used for cold this time
and there’s a spell-binding rhythm to the poem. Additionally, the slight rhymes of the first lines, and those of lines 14 and 16, work really well. The last line, though, feels a bit anticlimactic — beats the concept a little too hard when the rest of the poem feels so much more subtle.