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.”
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. Click Mr. Linky for more poems and join in.
This Jolly Beggar 