"All You Can Eat Pancakes" a poem by Charles Anthony Hood

I scream into the darkness, but…

My plea echoes and dissipates.

I claw at my itchy skin until it bleeds.

A nauseating odor lingers in the air.

Where am I, and how did I get here?

The last thing I remember…

I boarded the crosstown train.

A stranger boarded at the next stop and…

Entered the car in which I was travelling.

I was comfortable, so I fell asleep.

I dreamed I was poked with a shot;

However, upon consideration of my…

Current situation, I may not have been…

Dreaming—half awake and half asleep.

Why would anyone kidnap me?

I believe I am being held in a basement.

The air smells of mildew and fabric softener.

My eyes adjust to the darkness.

A sliver of light is a laser beam…

Cutting through the thick darkness.

I can see a little more now…

Than I could before.

There is a staircase leading up to…

A padlocked door—I’m trapped!

Keep calm and think clearly.

The door opens.

A rotund man stands in the doorway…

With a shotgun—

Over his face is a ski mask.

He says, “Your ransom has been paid.”

He puts a black hood over my head.

I cannot see anything.

I can hear 3 men’s voices.

They drive me for quite some time.

We stop.

One of the men pull me out…

Of the van—gravel crunches underfoot.

He leads me forward for a bit.

He stops me and removes the hood.

“Oh, thank God!” comes my brother’s voice.

Three men step forward.

Two lead me back to safety.

One gives the kidnappers a duffle.

I am now sitting with my brother…

In the back seat of a hummer.

“Are you okay?” My brother asks.

“I am now. Thank you.”

“Are you hungry, bro? I’ll bet you’re hungry.”

We stop at an Ihop, and…

I say to our server, “I’d like the all-you-can-eat pancakes please.”

Comments

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Charles Anthony Hood

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