The Howling
i had most of the adults fooled
the family was easiest
they were none too bright
what little smarts i had
i must have got from my father
and he was never in the picture
i can only guess
the monster
came from him
too
next were the teachers
the math and science teachs
just thought i was a punk
bad apple
the english teachs actually thought
there was something interesting about me
they’d tell me to do shit like
join the drama club
or hangout with
the band kids
they just thought i needed the right
friends
there was only one adult
i couldn’t fool
Mr. Bristol
gym coach
jarhead
meathead
with a brain the shape of a crew cut
but that son-of-a-bitch had a nose for me
he was on to me
he was on to me from the start
for years
he said it with just a look
i’d get it the worst in gym class
but if i ever passed him in the halls
he’d mean-mug the hell outta me
it was so much that
he followed me from middle school
to high school
everyone said that
it was because he got a raise
i knew it was so he could keep an eye on me
and finally the day came
where he stopped policing me
silently
i have very little memory
of what happens when the monster comes
but one morning i awoke with the faint recollection of Ms. Guthrie screaming
through her kitchen window
and black and white furs
where my claws were
at the end of gym class
Bristol told me to stay back
i stood by the door so i could run
just in case he tried to beat the shit outta me
after everyone else cleared the locker room
i could feel him looking at me
i could feel the hate
“ya know Ms. Guthrie, Price?”
“yea”
“she told me this morning
that last night she saw something
in her backyard
and whatever it was
it ripped her cat to pieces”
i just stood there
staring down at the artwork
on my Guns N’ Roses t-shirt
“i’m on to you, Price”
i was scared
this was it
i was caught
Bristol was either gonna turn me in
expose me for what i was
or take matters into his own hands
and murder me himself
“get out of my locker room”
he said
i kept waiting for the other shoe to drop
at first i waited for weeks
with his deadly stares in class
and the halls
wondering what the hell was taking him
so long
then months
then years
i was convinced he was waiting
until i stopped expecting it
or maybe
he was scared of me
and was just working up the right plan
but
he never did
Bristol never exposed me
and he never took it upon himself
to put me down
but today
they put him down
under six feet of dirt
in the Grace United Cemetery
Bristol knew what i was
Bristol knew that i would always be
what i am
what Bristol didn’t know
was that i like what i am
i love what i am
and tonight
when the monster takes over
i’m heading over to Grace United Cemetery
where i will piss on his grave
and howl at the moon
