Crawly Graveyard
An Alternate Rhyme
Traveling atop creepy Crawly graveyard,
‘twas a nightly amble lacking regard.
Multiple thoughts of home played in my mind,
A warm fire, hot tea, and bread, I would find.
The moonlight, long gone, was swallowed by clouds,
threatening a storm that it openly vowed.
Foggy night mists wrapped their droplets round me,
tightening and squeezing refusing to free.
Walking on the sacred ground of long-dead,
misplaced, lonely spirits filled me with dread.
An unknown presence began to take hold,
I pulled closed my jacket feeling the cold.
A feverous chill crawled along my spine,
as I wandered thru great whispering pines.
Distant head music, a ring in my ears,
My blood amplified in curdling fear.
Circling my head, turning it side to side,
the night sounds silence I could not deny.
I spied cracked headstones of varying shapes,
unstable markers amidst bleak landscape.
Forgotten epitaphs from years gone past,
the memorial writing, which did not last.
Passage of time written on one’s gravestone,
carved words to forever remain unknown.
Confused, I stop at the sight before me,
finding a wide brim hat under a tree
Next, a grayish vapor rose from a grave,
transforming to wraith, he commenced to rave.
Peculiar was this vast shadow of woe,
I was frozen stiff from his chilling glow.
Long Bony fingers collected the hat,
tipping his fleshless head, he placed it back.
He hovered close to his slanted headstone,
tracing characters, he murmured a moan.
For the long-gone facts of his birth and death,
no longer uttered on a loved one's breath.
His tattered mantle billowed with the breeze,
clutching the cover, he wrapped bones with ease.
Pointing a skeletal finger my way,
The eerie specter wished to keep me at bay.
Frightened, soundless screams formed on my lips,
unable to escape his gripping eclipse.
I drew in his sadness, starting to cry,
until hollowed black sockets caught my eye.
Tipping the hat’s brim, he faded away,
vanishing beneath hardened earth clay.
Shivering, released to finish my trek,
I struggled to keep emotions in check.
A heavy shroud of unease cloaked my soul,
I lost the battle for inner control.
Myriad feelings attached to my heart,
as driving rain made me anxious to part.
Forced lack of compassion blackened my soul,
his mood blinded feelings taking their toll.
The creature’s sadness had become my own,
left with no choice, so I journeyed toward home.
A ritual I'm sure he nightly relived,
did the phantom have a message to give?
What were the tidings he mutely conveyed?
That the memory of him had been decayed?
(stay tuned for edits)