Philter
I remember them
lining the back streets of old San Juan
ice cold.
Iniquitous pick-me-ups soliciting the corporeal thirst.
The tall ones at Sloppy Joe’s
across the bar or in the backrooms
were always statuesque, dark, and sinister by nature
but inviting.
Overwhelmed by their outpourings
many men rudely departed
or were slowly eaten away. . .
only to walk again in the shadows.
The risqué ladies that shared such deviltries
were equally attracted
and lured into lifelessness
or suffered the ravages…
but were seen again
looking bitter and ashen.
Aimless bodies
wandered in the crowded nights
faltered in the dark streets
and fell face-first from the spell
of a thirst… to devour.
There, in the smell of human flesh
she walked
unlike the rest;
direct, tall, blonde, and creamy white
eyes of a blue so deep
they echoed the siren\'s call.
Flaunting a smile
she was irresistible.
I thought, “Is this the angel
I heard of, once, in a Sci-Fi flick?”
No words were exchanged
but we fell into step and entered
Sloppy Joe’s.
Almost immediately,
she was beset by two of them
which she knocked back
one with each of her hands.
She seemed to possess a strength
beyond human, beyond existence.
Her name was Maya
and she spoke with a voice
like flowing water.
It quenched a man’s dryness
washed peace and promise over his troubled soul.
Yet, when she roared
as she did while downing four more
that came at her from a table across the room
it shocked the inhabitants and trembled the windows.
Confronted, again, by ardent spirits
we struggled to put down as many as possible.
They kicked like mules
but we overpowered and killed them all,
or so I thought.
She grabbed the last one
still clutched by my hands,
and her voice consumed it.
We kissed.
It was the kiss of salvation;
supple, sugary, and spiritual
as though my libido had been drained
of all its hypocrisy.
In this wilderness of atrocities…
This moment outran perfection.
We lingered, perhaps too long
but it was incremental
and only seemed to approach unending.
Suddenly, my legs folded beneath me.
In a state of weakness and vulnerability
I was rescued from the man-eaters
by this huntress of souls.
Her hands brought quick dispatch to
the lurid assailants
while her voice restored my strength.
As, once again my body became upright…
she was gone.
Alone, and surrounded
I threw down two of the ravishers
and scurried into the street.
The thought of outrunning them
was a mistake
for they came at me from all sides.
I dashed into a Bamboo Bar
scrambled to the upper deck.
Nowhere else to run
they had me trapped and cornered.
With nothing but a sea of them before me
all hope was nearly lost
until her voice resounded behind me
and the unchaste fell one by one.
This was my deliverance
or was it?
As she entwined me in her arms
she was noticeably different;
those luscious eyes of blue attraction
were now a radiant, fearsome red
and suddenly, all went black.
I awoke to total whiteness
sunlight, and breeze
a strange apparition
almost glowing with reflected light.
My eyes thought it was heaven.
Crossing the room
out onto the veranda
and realizing this place was ten
maybe twelve, stories up
there, in the burning noonday sun
I tried to recall the happenings of last night
but to no avail.
On the table, under the cruet
was a note, “Meet me at Los Animos”
and though it was written with a feminine hand
this message meant nothing to me.
My last memory was of a taxi ride to the old part of town.
Later, with my mind still uncertain
I headed down in the elevator.
and once outside, hailed a cab and entered..
“Los Animos,” I said to the driver.
He gave me a strange look and shook his head ,”No.”
I repeated, “Los Animos.”
Again, a head shake and a “No.”
The third time I supported my request with a twenty.
He rolled his eyes, took the bill
and drove …perhaps a hundred feet
stopping outside of the “Los Animos” lounge.
“Oh!” I replied and got out.
Inside the lounge it was midday trade
just a few couples and a drunk or two.
On stage a jazz combo
was introducing their singer.
Her name was Maya.
All of it flashed quickly through my brain.
She was the blue-eyed angel that I remembered
She smiled at me and I smiled back.
Her voice was watery and smooth.
I listened to her, intently
and as she was finishing her set
I ordered two “Zombies.“