Author: crow

I'm a writer and a dabbler. I live in Southern California.

Post 20151024

crow

Here’s one of my infrequent posts.

I just posted something a little spooky. Probably not too spooky. But here’s the deal. I love Halloween. So I’d like to offer a challenge to anyone who still reads this (my stats indicate I don’t get many actual visitors). We have exactly one week until Halloween. For each day, pick a Halloween theme and write a poem. For example: a trick, a treat, something scary, a Halloween memory, anything as long as you can relate it to Halloween. Tag it with “halloween challenge” so I can find it.

No prizes. Who am I, Rockefeller?

Poem 20151024

crow

in the dark the whispers come
a scratching at the skull
from the inside
tickling the skin
but below the skin
like a tingling nerve
after the lightning strike

no amount of scratching on the scalp
can ease the irritation
and the tingling travels
down the spine and deadens the legs
turns the stomach and the guts
to ice water

the lights flicker
or is it your vision
and the whispers
stop
a mercy
until you hear the doorknob turn
and the creak of the floorboards
as the weight of feet announces
an approaching, unseen visitor

Poem 20151019

crow

the sedge can wither

and the lake can recede
to reveal the bones of men
and fish

and the pale faces of kings
and knights can loom in the gloam

and warn

but no one will listen
and we’ll all sit atop the sedge

and we’ll all wither too
and no fairy’s song will wake us

Poem 20151018

crow1 Comment

these shoes hurt my feet
though there was little walking

still it seems too much distance
had been covered in too little time

not to say that things were rushed
or that the scenery went by

unappreciated

but the ache is there
starting in the arches and

aching in the ball joints
all the way across the bottom

and they throb when i take a moment
to sit and reflect

and my soul throbs too
not a heartbeat so much

as the ticking of a clock
and you can’t lay blame on the shoes