I was vacant when he entered me, a ghost in a long corridor. In the distance, I heard low hissing. As if the world were losing air through a slow leak.
I silently sang myself a lullaby from my childhood, a Norwegian one that my mother used to sing to me. I never understood the words, but the caressing melody and my mother’s cradle of a voice were all I needed.
I sang silently, mimicking my mother’s voice: pale blue in the center, burnt yellow around the edges. My mother, and the lullaby, lasted as long as he did, and when he was done and climbed off, I returned to my body, and my mother and the lullaby returned to darkness.
About John Biscello
Originally from Brooklyn, NY, writer, poet, performer, and playwright, John Biscello, has lived in the high-desert grunge-wonderland of Taos, New Mexico since 2001.
He is the author of four novels, Broken Land, a Brooklyn Tale, Raking the Dust, Nocturne Variations, and No Man’s Brooklyn; a collection of stories, Freeze Tag, two poetry collections, Arclight and Moonglow on Mercy Street; and a fable, The Jackdaw and the Doll, illustrated by Izumi Yokoyama. He also adapted classic fables, which were paired with the vintage illustrations of artist, Paul Bransom, for the collection: Once Upon a Time, Classic Fables Reimagined. His produced, full-length plays include: LOBSTERS ON ICE, ADAGIO FOR STRAYS, THE BEST MEDICINE, ZEITGEIST, U.S.A., and WEREWOLVES DON’T WALTZ.
John Biscello 