Poem: That Evening in Houston

By Spencer Fuller

That Evening in Houston

They said it was like a concert in hell

an undulating flood of mass asphyxia and fervor

a megabody surged as their God took the stage

the friend you were standing with absorbed into the horde

trampled

digested by Vans Air Forces Stan Smiths and Chuck Taylors cosplaying gastric acid

in forty minutes eight die dozens incapacitate and a few scream

while hundreds dance, a thousand watch thru camera phones while the One performs

His siren song

the especially devout dance like amphetamine smoke over their pin cushion comrades

"don't stop the show you're too soft you didn't come to rage"

bodies lost in the sea of apathy while Samaritan voice boxes implode in simultaneity

Hearing the story reminded me of when I too gathered to bear witness to the One

I stood in an ocean of thousands slave to his song under the guillotine of night

I had never been in a crowd so big and felt so small

at the mercy of bodies entranced

One lining its pockets with all of our dollars and some of our lives

when I survived I was happy to have made it

those who didn't still haunt the melodies of the songs they were trampled to

Spencer Fuller is a writer from the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles California. Currently a student at San Francisco State University, he is completing his BA in Creative Writing. A deep love for music, cartoons, and video games inspired him as a child to tell stories of his own. While most of his early work was limited to poetry and songwriting, Spencer also enjoys creating short stories and speculative fiction. His experience as a diasporan African born in the United States drives him to include liberation, ambition, and purpose as recurring themes in his work. His goal is to inspire his readers to decolonize their minds, stay true to themselves, and to chase their dreams.