A Crawl Memory

 I decided to join a poetry meetup group in August 2023.  This was my first poem I wrote during the meeting.  Crawl is one of my favorite horror movies and this poem is written from my memory of the movie...

A Crawl Memory, by Kirk Harrington

As she wades through the basement looking for her father

The rain outside is loud against the house

And she thinks she sees the water move

Unexpectedly in spots

And fear rises in her

And she becomes tense

Ready to swim away fast if in danger

Again the water moves

And this time there is a clang against a pipe

Sensing danger, her immediate reaction

Is to swim away from the sound, which she does

Her heart rate rises

As she swims to some floating debris

In an attempt to get behind it to shield herself

She barely gets behind it just as a large dark shape rises from the water

And bites down on a piece of wood right in front of her

SNAP

The wood cracks at the pressure of the beast’s maw

And she sees the teeth

And in terror looks directly into the eyes

Of a giant alligator.