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Madam Kalla

Madam Kalla was a witch
She was tall and slim
Lived unnoticed, inch by inch
In an old house in Tallinn
She lived at Vana-Viru, 10
Nearby the little square
Ladies with their gentlemen
Stroll around here and there
Madam Kalla understood
Their language very well
Never spoke it, though she could
But she didn't want to tell
I remember the long table
Chandeliers and candle light
Bob Sapozhnin’s funny fables
After dinner in the night
My room at the upper floor
Was dark green, a vigil lamp
On the chain was hanging low
And the air was cold and damp
As I went to bed, at 3
Noticed through the ajar door
Madam Kalla smiles at me
Then she vanished, and I saw
Me long after, at the station
Waiting for the midnight train
Was I going on vacation?
Is it me out in the rain?
As I took my seat it went
Passed the endless vales in snow
I felt like a parcel sent
To the place I never known
Then one sunny winter day
I have heard my mother’s cry
“Got the tragic news today
Madam Kalla died in fire”
At the New Year's Eve she lit
Candles on her Christmas tree
Fell asleep, and that was it
Blazed in flames, her soul broke free
Bob Sapozhnin got a flat
In the outskirts of town
He, his wife, and sister Pat
Are long dead, as I found out
Madam Kalla I remember
God knows why, she comes sometimes
Smiles at me from her dark chamber
There's no sadness in her eyes.

Copyright © | Year Posted 2024




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Date: 7/28/2024 8:55:00 PM
This is scary and funny at the same time. I was sorry that she died.
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Colodub Avatar
Gregory Colodub
Date: 7/28/2024 11:33:00 PM
Thank you, Hilda! Its a real story! That house in Tallinn is more than 600 yrs old. Still stands there, it is refurbished completely. Kalla lit the candles on the spruce, then a blast of wind opened a little window, while she was sleeping. No one could expect that, of course. That happened in NY's eve of 1979.

Book: Reflection on the Important Things