Superstition
Artwork: Dark Mother by Amanda Norman
Mother dresses up for a party.
Belly up, the feeble baby floats
in the half-filled tub, gurgling
for her mother.
It takes thirteen seconds for her
to finally cease struggling.
The twin brothers scream
bloody murder again
as they vie to kill each other
inside their room every night.
Somewhere in the drab living room,
the father plays card:
two spades for the price of one,
three diamonds, and a bleeding heart.
Mother wipes the crack
on the bedroom mirror
and remembers the baby
she has left in the tub.
The black cat yawns.
Somewhere, the clock chimes
merrily spell three, and the house
is silent as before.
(first appeared in Black Petals #33, Autumn 2005)
Kristine Ong Muslim's work has appeared or is forthcoming in more than three hunded publications worldwide, including Aberrant Dreams, Farrago's Wainscot, GUD Magazine, Kaleidotrope, Labyrinth Inhabitant Magazine, Sounds of the Night, and Tales of the Talisman. She was nominated three times for the Pushcart Prize and twice for the Rhysling Award.