the running of the bulls
the rain came down
thick and mean
pounding the cobbles into black glass
turning the streets into a slick throat
ready to swallow us whole
they let the bulls loose late
big and dark as the priest’s worst thoughts
hooves slamming their war drums
rolling thunder behind us
breath steaming
muscles rippling under wet hides
a man beside me slipped
his shouts lost in the storm
his body twisting in the gutter
and the hooves came down like fate
a heavy, wet battering
something breaking
something final
but the bulls didn’t care
they ran for the same reason we did
because death was behind them
his butcher’s laugh
cracked loose as lightning
the running of the bulls
the rain came down
thick and mean
pounding the cobbles into black glass
turning the streets into a slick throat
ready to swallow us whole
they let the bulls loose late
big and dark as the priest’s worst thoughts
hooves slamming their war drums
rolling thunder behind us
breath steaming
muscles rippling under wet hides
a man beside me slipped
his shouts lost in the storm
his body twisting in the gutter
and the hooves came down like fate
a heavy, wet battering
something breaking
something final
but the bulls didn’t care
they ran for the same reason we did
because death was behind them
his butcher’s laugh
cracked loose as lightning