Dark Poem

Surrounded by the Shadow of Death.

Twas a cool damp morning. The kind where the clouds have yet to rise and the mist awakens dormant flesh as it sneaks up behind me.  Electricity whirls thru the dawn raining down lightning that stings my naked flesh. For he is watching.

Thy mist weighs heavy with every breath. A distant crow hacks out a fitful good-bye from a perch unseen. The dead vibrate through all that is living. Thy shadow, just barely visible, dances with the devil between walls of fog.

Those who have long since passed sing to me and smile. They are happy now, and forever will be, encased in the haze. They share private jokes and blood wine moving as if I am not there, their eyes playing tricks on me.

I breathe deep the earth, rain, and drowning embers. A low lit pathway beckons me to dark endings. For aware am I of the dark shadow that binds me. For there is love in a timeless moment when the mind dreams of the body wafting, rising with the murk, toward the distant gray no-where.

I see him and he sees me.  Curiosities welcome his eyes to meet mine as flames pirouette afore me. A ring of smoke finds me dizzy. I sway and falter. For I am swaddled in a cold, damp grip of romances.

Tis all a dream and I sigh as my wishes flutter out with the blood that quenches his thirst. By his fangs I feel no pain. My colorless soul blooms as it swirls making a forlorn figure in the image of which I once was, leaving a trail of frankincense smoke in her wake.

Meeting my eyes, he sighs, and wipes the blood from my cheek with a gentle caress. I wish to see him again, forever, as my body melts into his. A smile colors my pale cheeks as I drift off dreamless and at peace.

Laura Chowanski, March 31, 2013