Terror From New Jersey's Devil
New Jersey was still a king’s colony
in the 1700s when Mrs. Leeds
awaited the birth of child thirteen.
In pain during labor she cried a curse!
The Quaker is claimed to have given birth
to a son of Satan’s demonic worth.
The New Jersey Devil’s legend was born.
Deep in Pine Barrens where no paths are worn,
Mrs. Leeds denied her child with scorn.
Deformed with cloven hoofs and bat-like wings,
much fear the demon to this day brings.
Satanic evening cries through pine trees sing.
In 1870 where woods meet sea,
a fisherman cast his line at Long Beach,
claimed that this devil emerged from the trees.
To croon a demon’s tune to a mermaid,
this sea beauty’s innocence he sought to jade,
but she swam off as his wicked song played.
Councilman Weeden in 1909
awoke to hear flapping wings in the night.
Cloven hoof prints in snow were left behind.
Multiple sightings near Trenton that year,
with more across the bay in Delaware.
And Pennsylvanians, too, were gripped by fear.
Tracks found at May’s Landing, 1960.
Ten thousand dollars were offered to he
who captured the devil of south Jersey.
This bounty unclaimed still leads fearless men
to hunt in Pine Barrens, the devil’s den.
They enter never to emerge again.
Children with wide eyes sit by campfires.
Huddled close together, they conspire
to capture the winged midnight flyer.
*Submitted for Deb's Monster contest
Written with consultation from the New Jersey Historical Society
Copyright © Carolyn Devonshire | Year Posted 2014
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