Night Rider

Upon the haunted, magic air
A sound is heard in the dark somewhere;
A creak of wood, as gears are churned,
A carousel begins to turn.

A siren song that calls a child
To find these horses running wild,
Whose painted mouths say: Join our game!
He leaps the one he wants to tame.

The laughing boy holds tight the pole
And hugs the wooden horse of old.
Watching the dark town flashing by
He takes the forbidden midnight ride.

The painted eyes begin to gleam
And shadows flicker close like dreams.
Front hooves rise in a sudden rear
As the boy now clings to flesh and fear.

He turns and looks for one last time
As the leave the carousel behind.
The maddened horse in nightmare flight
Rides the boy into the night.
They leap the earth in an endless rush
And hopes of childhood turn to dust.
The dark night turns to seek the dawn
But against the stars the boy is gone.

Copyright © | Year Posted 2018



Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Date: 1/11/2020 4:24:00 PM
this is an IT kind of creepy write, well done
Login to Reply
Date: 7/18/2019 7:02:00 AM
Oh, wow. This is fantastic! The rhythm really keeps the carousel spinning, right up to the final word. There is an old song by Franz Schubert, which this reminds me of, if not exactly in subject, then, in tone. It is called, Der Erlkonig, and it gallops along right up to a final stunning end, like your poem does. Read the translation first, then hear the music, if you like. Marvelous poem, yours!
Login to Reply
Bush Avatar
Jean Bush
Date: 7/21/2019 7:26:00 PM
Thank you so much, Andrew, I love the Erl-King by Goethe, and yes, you give me the highest compliment by mentioning it with my own poor rhythm.
Get a Premium Membership
Get more exposure for your poetry and more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Reflection on the Important Things

Member Area

My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder

Soup Social

Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us

Member Poems

Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread

Member Poets

Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest

Famous Poems

Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100

Famous Poets

Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War

Poetry Resources

Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter
Hide Ad