A little Halloween fun. I spun this tale yesterday on AllPoetry and thought my WordPress readers might enjoy it.

It is the sort of house that appears suspended midair.
A spiderweb, all points and connecting lines.
I pass through gate of wrought iron
in a black fly suit, unafraid of the ghastly design
enticed by the one-eyed glow
of Amarynth’s bedroom window,
although she’d told me never to visit
her after dusk, and there I was
with bouquet of chocolate cosmos,
their petals pools of fresh blood
hardening in the chilly air.

The season has already killed off the grass,
and I practice the lines I’ve memorized
but they sound dry, flimsy, crass.
“I’ve come to see Amarynth,”
and
“Yes, we are young, but desire to be betrothed,”
and,
“I’ve come to ask for the hand of your daughter.”
But as I step farther, the sidewalk gets taller,
and the stairs ahead are rotten, weak, and hollow.

Above scans a gargoyle’s doubtful eyes,
his stony mouth gaped wide,
as the flickering bedroom light
reveals more than one shadow inside.
And I wonder how I came to this strange place
on a moonless night?
How will I untangle myself from the
long legs of Amarynth,
and her ghostly white lies?

Laughter from the parlor,
either mother or father.
Through window, lights out,
and before I reach the skull head knocker,
I abandon foolish hope, turn to go,
but behind me creeps a sinewy shadow,
two hands upon my neck,
and I can only let the silken fingers
that once twisted me in pleasure
tighten around me as my eyes close.

© 2022 | K.Hartless