Phyllis Peters
Dracula
That hijacked ship
full of sailors turned white
from terror. The thing runs aground
— minus the sailors —
in front of villagers come to witness. When the mangy dog leaps,
froth-mouthed out of the hull, we read “hell.”
Personally, I never visit the port in a storm, but
my neighbor does. She knows it’s a form of
ambulance chasing. She even calls it “the oldest
profession.”
She says it’s her “wishing well.”
She says that when she drops the penny, it’s the smell
that lingers
and gets her high.
Phyllis Peters is a poet, author, and playwright whose work has placed and appeared in literary events and publications such as The London Magazine, Colorado Review, Columbia Journal, Fence, the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival, The Regional Writers Showcase at Geva Theatre, and the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference, among numerous others. She is the author of the novel Untethered: A Caregiver’s Tale and a 2015 TEDx speaker. Her work is represented by Maria Whelanat InkWell Management in New York.