Riding the Night Mare

Friends and foes of flesh and bone from me they have flown A different company I keep in reveries of twilight sleep When night’s dark blanket does fall, I begin to hear their call Carriage wheels creak, horses shriek, I look, but dare not speak Some appear restrained; others seem in good manners untrained Pale complexions, faces unshaven, countenances dark and graven Friendly words are not uttered, heavy hearts remain un-fluttered After a brief admiration I join this motley delegation sans hesitation Through sleepy streets we ride, through dark alleys we arrive To our place of gathering - in silence, without any chattering Far from city lights, under a moonlit sky an owl hoots thrice As if to wonder, “Are these nocturnal creatures of virtue or vice?” These ghastly preachers with ominous features invade his lightless Kingdom with a mysterious mission - in search of freedom, Perhaps driven by some demon, or for some other unknown reason The owl has seen enough, so it swiftly flies away with a huff In a ruinous castle by moonlight lit, at a round table we quietly sit The ghostly figures each reveal packets from under dusty jackets On the table they are placed, then with their burning eyes I am faced This is to be a feast, my hosts are many, but guests there aren`t any The packets are unwrapped, their curious contents are unmatched: Flavors of love and hate, horror, and beauty, to devour all is my duty Some taste sweet, fruits of exotic flavor, I eat; everything I savor Others brought blood to the table; to swallow this too I must be able I eat, swallow, devour, my hosts are pleased; suddenly I am seized By a feeling of heavy heart and head, I enter a dark sleep of the dead When I wake, in my mouth there’s a strange taste, in my body I ache But the ghosts` sustenance must be treasured, their feast remembered Or else I`ll be dismembered, the dark treasures in the woods gathered Will be retrieved and given to a more worthy soul, for their goal Is to bring their bitter, bloody honey to feed the mind not the body - The essence of life distilled by the dead in images and words I was fed