Skeleton Quay - Source Poem For Goosebumps Contest

Foreword: Contains excepts from, and additions to, my own three part poem ‘Bone Idol’, which is way too long to submit here. Skeleton Quay He lingers on the quayside and heeds the phantom howls Out on mist shrouded water his hero dog now prowls While mortal men of flesh and blood exude a scent to track His naked bones emit no tones to draw his seeker back Two thousand miles of skimming clouds or bounding over sea This canine’s epic trek has brought him to his hometown quay His phantom nose is sniffing but he finds his master missing Man and dog remain apart, together reminiscing... When the sniper fired his rifle and his faithful canine fell A second bullet found his heart and he went down as well Might we stay together, somehow he deigned to try His last exhale the whispered vow, Lord, we must not die Army medics took him, in vain, his life to save His hero German Shepherd in a stoney desert grave And then his own cremation, yet he remained aware Ethereal intervention withdrew his corpse from there Something in his mind just knew his dog was somewhere yearning Shame the intervention came when he was near done burning He only gets to hear him when a crescent moon shines bright Perhaps they do as ghost ships do just pass by in the night Each one knows the other’s close, they’ll reunite in time He’s of a mind to bide his time fighting low-life crime And so... He prowls the night in shadows twixt the bat the rat and cat Keeps his hairless cranium hid beneath his tan rimmed hat And lest he scares the homeless like he's been born out of hell Behind dark shades his vacant sockets hide away as well Whilst he has no need for food - he hasn't any guts He passes time by nibbling packs of jelly beans or nuts They bounce around his ribcage then trail along the ground To feed Cedric his rat sidekick who follows him around It takes a while but then a smile at four wet footprint marks No phantom howl, a joyous wail and then some playful barks Man and dog now reunited, distant bond now reignited Cedric tried it, couldn’t fight it, three good friends now all delighted And so they prowl the shadows where no lawful man shall dare Only those of I'll intent shall stand or loiter there But nothing here shall cause them fear nor get under their skin A knife glints in the moonlight and they cannot help... ...but grin.