Dark Poetry Corner
Every year I post a dark poetry corner for Coffin Hop, and
this year is no exception. However, for 2014, I've given it a bit of a twist.
Included in the poetry this year is a group poem, a collaboration I did with
some poets over on Facebook.
Also on deck are two deeply disturbing bits of verse written
back in April for National Poetry Month, and a more recent poem.
First the group poem:
A Walk to Immorality
Going out for a twilight stroll to refresh and regenerate. The night reveals its onyx veil dashed with stars to see what's beyond my door. Passing by a memorial park, looking over to catch a glimpse of the souls inside. The wind rises up and pushes me down an untreated path doing a makeshift pirouette to catch balance. Recovering, I look up and see an abandoned cottage.
The shutters hang from glassless windows. Curtains, tattered
and stained, beckon me on the breeze, as if ghostly fingerlings calling me
home. Will we have tea? Me and whatever is setting the table behind that heavy,
dark door. Will it light a fire to take the chill from my bones, and should I
bring a gift? Wildflowers, perhaps? I gather handfuls of Queen Ann Lace from
the front yard on my way up the porch, soundlessly begging the door to open as
I approach. Already, I am under its spell.
A creaking hinge whispers, hollow and hoarse, the noise
inviting, yet forlorn. Come in, come in, chimes the echo metallic as the door
swings wide like a maw. A firefly dances, inside the dark, a pinpoint of light
to show me the way. A furtive stirring of air tickles my skin cold with goose
bumps. I step forward, strangely hesitant, but I cross the threshold, floral
offering outstretched. A murmuring resonates, from the deep black, rising
slowly to words: “Enter and be welcome.” Behind me resounds a thud, as the door
slams shut.
I am left in the dark. Sweat trickles down the sides of my
face. I grope my way forward, seeking a chair. My knees are weak. I. Must. Sit.
There are no sounds now, but in the silence I can feel someone near. Then I see
him in my mind: his dark brooding, his ebony waistcoat, his white shirt open at
the neck, his sophisticated walking stick. Click. Click. Click. He’s walking
toward me now. I flatten myself against the wall, cling to the shadows, but
know that he needs no light to see. Oh, I begin to crave his touch. What is
happening? His breath is hot and so close, so close. I welcome the teeth.
Immortality has found me, blood stains my collar. Tomorrow the sun will burn my
skin.
Poem written by:
Rene Schwiesow
And now my solo poems:
Wild Born
Born on the untamed storm, black wind in the blood
Cold eyes of green, with a scream to shatter bone
Awake the dead, raven shadows call the flood
Red moon fears the surge, shrieking her tempest moan
A veiled gaze, darkened haze, in the endless howl
Bring the last, come the heir, to the thorny throne
Soar the bleak hurricane, rip the realm a scowl
Cascade forth the fury, nothing stands the wake
Fall to the oncoming rage, let life befoul
Wide rivers will burn and fair mountains will quake,
each in measured doom, blazing width and the depth
Child of the feral storm, all mercy forsake
Run to the edge, chased by the dark mist of breath
Run in vain, escape shall transpire in death
Another Day
Shadows lift with the morning sunrise, to unveil its kiss to
the morning mist draped upon the mountains. Radiant sparkles flutter in the
surface of the lake, as the birds chirp their song to the day.
The bells peal a dirge
The shuffle of feet stir dust
On an open grave
The Devil’s Deal
A sly tongue,
silver some may say
and falling lies
wrapped in tiny silvers
of truth…
…and moonlight at the crossroads
Don’t say yes,
Don’t sell your soul
But if you do,
and you hear
the yowl
of the hellhound
coming in the night
Run
Even if you won’t escape
Hope you enjoyed the poetry.
If you'd like to read more, try the Kintsugi Poets Society, another Coffin Hop participant.
If you'd like to read more, try the Kintsugi Poets Society, another Coffin Hop participant.
Don’t forget to enter my
contest, and creep over http://coffinhop.com/
and check out more of the Coffin Hoppers.
