The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Arch Enemy  
by Alex Grehy

Noble poets with soaring words,

venerated artists with brush and paint,

respected scientists with theorems,

failed to capture its purpose. 

.

The Arch denied them all.

.

But callow teenagers understood, 

were awoken by its silent call,

heard its wild promises of joy,

were drawn by its beguiling charm.

.

A dozen drowned before authorities

applied to put up warning signs; opposed

of course, by aesthetes who deplored

defacement of its loveliness.

.

A dozen more drowned while

committees made their decisions.

.

The signs went up, barriers erected,

but still the teens came to swim

up the estuary and under The Arch.

A rite of passage for the brave.

.

Another dozen drowned.

.

The authorities launched

public information campaigns.

Parents tutted, held their

little ones close; but still the

teenagers came.

.

So many dozens drowned, too many to count.

.

Geeky geologists with measurements,

intellectual engineers with calculations,

skilled demolition experts with explosives,

failed to destroy its span.

.

The Arch defied them all.

.

Meanwhile, across the internet,

teens transmitted its wordless voice,

around the world; those who

could not travel, envious of the

ones who flocked to swim

upstream, fighting the current

to vanish beneath The Arch.

.

The river sent them back, quickly,

before fish and decay had

despoiled their corpses.

.

On Tik-Tok and Insta the photos appeared,

beautiful youths floating downstream,

face up, beneath The Arch,

eyes open in wonder,

euphoric smiles forever frozen,

as if this death were the best thing

that had ever happened

in their brief lives.

.

Filters on the social sites,

warning posts on blogs and vlogs,

parents’ pleas to ISPs,

failed to block its dark allure.

.

The Arch broadcast its dark desires

and took each soul it called

.

Fiction © Copyright Alex Grehy
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More from author Alex Grehy:

After a lifetime of writing technical non-fiction, Alex Grey is fulfilling her dream of writing poems and stories that engage the reader’s emotions. Her work has been featured by a wide range of publications including Siren’s Call, Raconteur, Bookends Review, and Toasted Cheese. One of her comic poems is also available via a worldwide network of public fiction dispensers managed by French publisher, Short Edition. Her ingredients for contentment are narrow boating, greyhounds, singing and chocolate. It is a sweet life, yet Alex’ original view of the world has led to her best friend to say ‘For someone so lovely, you’re very twisted!

Please click here to discover more!