I remember taking our kids to Halloween parties hosted by people we knew, but only once or twice taking them trick or treating in our neighborhood, always hovering in the background, half-trepidatiously (is that a word?).
Today’s prompt on dVerse Poetics, “You Want It Darker,” is courtesy of Lucy who asks us to “write a poem about the transient notion of life to death, or topics germane to the theme. With a twist.” The twist is to write a ballad that “will/can include dark, gothic themes and imagery . . . . It’s October and we’re looking for some dark poetry, publies.”
I’ve taken as inspiration a painting by Polish artist Zdzisław Beksiński who once said, “What matters is what appears in your soul, not what your eyes see and what you can name.”
Zdzisław Beksiński (1929-2005)
Nightmare Ballad
between October’s mists my ring on your finger your fingers in her hair my heart consumes fire
wonders casual causality between your white-rowed teeth her crimson, wet-bladed lips crimes hallowed like wine
when the moon fell from the sky on a common day of sepia-tints the ground bled red nightmares rode split tree trunks
into a necropolis of fears where decayed hope breeds madness the food of the gods
where desires feign love where mirrors that were eyes open silently bend inward and scream
till I wake
For more on Zdzisław Beksiński's paintings, click here.
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