i scream
no words come to mind
the voices
the noise
i can't think
i can't breathe
i scream into an endless hell
no one listens
overwhelming feelings
thoughts
will it never end
i scream
it stops
silence
immense nothingness
i am alone
i am home
i am here

Raevynn
March 31, 2002

First published in Letters From the Soul (International Library of Poetry).  Permission to reprint granted by the author.

July 1, 2007 (AP / New York) -- A peacock that roamed into the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant was attacked by a man who vilified the bird as a vampire, animal-control authorities said.

January 23, 2008 (BBC) -- An American man who took the name of a fictional vampire has been sentenced to 30 years for bombing two hotels in La Paz, according to Bolivian state media. Triston Jay Amero, 26, carried out the attacks with his Uruguayan ex-girlfriend, Alda Ribeiro Costa, 47.

I've traveled a long way to talk vampires with Dan Matei Agathon, Romania's minister of tourism. As I wait in his cramped anteroom with its tattered wood trim and 1960s-era vertical blinds, assistants flutter to and fro, one of them bearing boxes that look like gifts for some visiting dignitary.

Silently the two men faced each other. Then Ernest hissed:

"Thief!"

Reginald shrugged his shoulders.

"Vampire!"

"So Ethel has infected you with her absurd fancies! Poor boy! I am afraid.... I have been wanting to tell you for some time.... But I think... We have reached the parting of our road!"