Ryan Mecum - Werewolf HAIKU

both rapidly stretch and grow,

but your skin doesn’t.

Your skin everywhere -

and yes, I mean everywhere -

is stretched ’til it bursts

Underneath your flesh,

new growing muscles peek out

and start to sprout hair.

It’s around this time,

you realize that your clothes

won’t get worn again.

Both your eardrums pop,

then quickly grow back stronger

as your ears sprout up.

All your fingernails

are pushed off of your fingers

by claws underneath.

Your large soda gut

goes from a few two-liters

to hairy six-pack.

Your nose, mouth and chin

tear open as a wolf snout

pushes through your face.

Teeth fall to the floor

as new canine incisors

cut your old ones out.

It feels like fingers

pushing on both your eyeballs

from inside your skull.

Your eyes don’t fall out

but you kind of wish they would

once they start growing.

Your pinky fingers,

as your hands become wolf paws,

shrivel and fall off.

Toenails start to split

as claws pierce out of your toes

and rip through your shoes.

That pain in your butt

that feels like constipation

is a tail growing.

smell here

Your new fur is damp

from random moist secretions

and smells like wet dog.

There’s throbbing, tearing,

tight nauseating cramping,

and piles of dead skin.

You see yourself change.

You feel yourself get hungry.

You hear yourself howl.

You tear through your house

and watch yourself going wild

out into the night.

You become primal

and all night you act so bad

and it feels so good.

The beast inside you

that you always thought was there

has come out to play.

You run from your yard

as a beast into the night,

looking for some fun.

You want to find food,

you want to tear things apart,

and you want your Rose.

Howling at the moon

never makes much sense to you,

but it feels so good.

Now, for some reason,

all you want to do is kill

your next-door neighbors.

The first thing you eat

is a cute little rabbit

who lived in your yard.

The next thing you eat

is a cute little old man

who lived down the street.

You kill a pet cat

and go straight to Rose’s house

to give her a gift.

Nothing shows true love

like a pile of dead house cats

left on her front porch.

Everything’s a blur

mixed with dirt, hair, pain and blood

until the sunrise.

The next thing you know,

you’re normal, naked, outside,

and your stomach’s full.

When you transform back,

it’s not nearly as painful…

you just shrink and shed.

Your nose, ears, eyes, teeth,

pinky fingers, nails and gut

all grow back in place.

You must then decide:

Do you first wash off the blood

or cover your junk?

Your next dilemma

is how to make it back home

without being seen.

Once inside your house,

you find your love mix CD

smashed into pieces.

And now here you sit,

with a neighbor-filled stomach,

writing poetry.

…I didn’t make it.

Writing those last few haiku

made some puke come up.

My dog is missing,

but he must have found those bones

and brought them inside.

I’ve got that all wrong.

Those bones were inside my dog.

I remember now.

When one loves one’s pet -

typically, eating that pet

is not considered.

If one can get past

all the desperate barking,

raw dog tastes awesome.

His meaty dog thighs

were like eating chicken legs

but with bloody hair.

I’ll miss my Lupé,

but with this indigestion,

I might see him soon.

A terrible stench

is seeping out from my pants.

I think it’s Shih Tzu.

I should call in sick

and do some work on my house

and on my colon.

Don’t worry, my friend.

I will write you again soon,

dear haiku journal.

Dear haiku journal,

Are there three full moons a month

or is there just one?

Do werewolves transform

more than just one night a month?

I’ll find out tonight.

Not taking chances.

I should drive way out of town

to not hurt people.

Out in the country -

late afternoon, in my car -

wearing a sweatsuit.

Praying clothes don’t rip.

Praying not to kill again.

Praying I don’t change.

Prayer didn’t work

and neither did the sweat suit.

Now, where did I park?

Naked once again.

Therefore, no keys once again.

Hope the car’s unlocked.

A distant farm house

with four parked ambulances

brings back memories.

All those EMTs

won’t be needing those stretchers.

Maybe some baggies.

I find my car locked,

but that’s not a big problem

since the windshield’s gone.

Naked on the hood,

I climb through the broken glass

and find my car keys.

As I drive back home,

I’m glad I have sunglasses

to help block the wind.

A few cars pass me

as I try to look normal,

windowless and nude.

Why is murder wrong?

The more I think about it,

the better it sounds.

That soul inside you -

it’s what is inside that counts.

I want your outside.

Souls are eternal

and don’t need bodies to live,

so why the upkeep?

Souls go to heaven.

Bodies are just part-time homes.