This poem was inspired by Sterling Lanier’s excellent tale of macabre and suspense, His Coat So Gay. A classic conflict of good versus evil, this work was one of my favorite stories in my early teens. The first time I read it, it riveted me to the edge of my seat from start to finish, the way all good fiction should.
Oratory:
Plumes of acrid smoke rise into the sky, appease the Unholy One.
The chimes strike, the hour is ripe, the witching hour hath begun!
With countenance calm and peaceful eye, she looks Heavenward,
And still without the bat of an eye she says not one word.
With a clear voice of silken silver, with not one quake,
She knows full well the sacrifice must make claim,
And she prepares the sacrifice demanded—Take!
I look at her in wonder and great fear, this Morrigu by name.
Upon her breasts and belly marks of gold clearly visible to me,
Through the gauzy cloth down to her blemishless thigh, this tunic.
The hour half spent—Harken, the powers of night that be!
And chaotic & wild the dance intensifies as half burnt the candle’s wick.
Black hair upon her shoulders unbound and spills to her waist.
There, it shall come to pass: she gently marks my forehead.
Oh how I love thee, Priestess of the Dead—make haste!
“Ride for thy life, Englishman. Amuse the Undead!”
She rides long and hard, and knows the dear price the hunt will take;
She rides and she is brave, as upon my breast her cross doth burn—
Warning me! And lo, she rides through the fence and the gate.
Into my arms she folds; she knows it will be the last. Spurn!
Her lips meet mine, our tongues intertwine. With this farewell, bold!
She throws up her arms at the vile thing, a defiant cry escaping her lips.
Sacrilege! Love paid the price with its blood, Love untold.
The Sam’haine hour draws to a close, into the past it slips.
Her body warm in my arms, a look of peace on her face,
She, a true Saint, an only amidst her race.
She knew. Oh dear God, she knew, she knew, SHE KNEW!
Weeping, I clutch the girl who knew the price and what she had to do.
Dear Betty, I loved thee in life. May thy soul find peace in death. |
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