The ghostly boys’ trio was scheduled to sing in the town square
It was a terrific October evening, there was spirit in the air
Those of us who could see them could be counted on one hand
Accompanying them was an invisible but wonderful Mariachi band
Others heard music and looked to the gazebo with a smile and a laugh.
No one was startled, this was what happens in Salem by half.
We expect to see the unusual here, it is part of our legacy.
We were the ones who crucified young girls as witches, you see.
charming armed with spells
she had bewitched her lover
accused by neighbor
july ninety two
prominent salem trials
three hundred years back
she was innocent
her drowning was proof of this
no consolation
Witches and Warlocks
Is New York City Salem Mass?
Halloween Night
You cast your gaze, sharp and cold/
A relic of Salem, a story retold/
Convictions weigh heavy, though truth stands clear/
Yet you brand me alarming, fueled by fear/
Your judgement looms, a shadowed stake/
Bound by laws, yet the fire you'd make/
If time unshackled your hands today/
Would I see the embers of history's fray/
Puritan echoes, they linger still/
Through whispers low and sharpened will/
Not robes and hats, nor torches bright/
Yet still you strike with veiled delight/
I am a person with rights to defend/
My faith, my freedom, no need to amend/
No shame, no guilt, no crime in sight/
Yet you twist belief into blinding fright/
You see the world in black and white/
A rigid mind, afraid of light/
Yet truth will stand where flames may fall/
And justice calls beyond your wall/
Let laws restrain what hands would do/
But laws can't cleanse the thoughts in you/
Puritan thinking, aged yet bold/
Still walks among us, shrouded in gold/
I spend most time within this grave
Unmarked and deathly silent
I met my end remaining brave
Which made it no less violent
Pressed to death for 3 long days
Only asking for more weight
Not this lie but other woeful ways
I wonder if I'd sealed my own fate
A young man from my living time
Caught stealing just some apples
I beat him for his modest crime
Now my soul still with me grapples
Shy a fortnight I did keep him here
Only to deliver him to deaths door
This caused my current state, I fear
To haunt Salem Town forevermore
I never gave in to their torture
When it was me unjustly tried
My wife hanged instead of scorch her
Am I the fault we both have died
Save for occasional haunting
I still feel I'm being pressed
This eternity seems daunting
And weighs heavy on my chest
This young man's name was Goodale
His soul must have been set free
Nightly down here without fail
Mine is still here trapped with me
Flying on an easterly wind
Over Atlantic waters, ever thinned
A village comes back into view
Eerily draped in a season anew
Hanging now with purple wisteria
Not accusations, not hysteria,
Is old Salem town, lush and green
Beyond, a cemetery lies, a reverent scene
Dark houses, by cherry blossoms framed
Brighten a place once so shamed,
By masking her greatest tragedy
With pink floral beauty, craftily
Quiet streets, an all too familiar pitch
As I wander, her picket fences bewitch,
And up on Gallows Hill, a site so tragic
Finds her peace in springtime magic.
I am no martyr, no ghost, nor wizard great
They laid rocks all upon me, and again I say
I will not plead, more weight, more weight
I was a farmer, in the spring of Salem late
My wife is to be hanged the following day
I am no martyr, no ghost, nor wizard great
Oh Martha I’ve sinned, though not what they state
There shall be no confession, so here I will lay
I will not plead, more weight, more weight
I’ve afflicted no person to meet this gruesome fate
Accused by a witch they say changed her way
I am no martyr, no ghost, nor wizard great
Three days pass, my conviction won't abate
Stone by stone, my hope for reason gone astray
I will not plead, more weight, more weight
Crushed to dust, before they’ll clean my slate
Oh Miss. Hobbs, for your betrayal you will pay
I am no martyr, no ghost, nor wizard great
I will never plead. More weight, more weight.
Witches motto is to do no harm to plants or animals
Ill understood they continue to positively garden and uplift
They were unfairly persecuted and prosecuted, murdered even
Christians bullied them, jealousy and fear determined their fate
Hysterical preteen accused the prettiest, eliminating competition
Every beautiful girl was in danger during this frenzied period of history
Still feel enraged and acute sadness when I drive through Salem.
Lake of Salem held secrets long forgotten by the good people.
Sophie the youngest girl ever drowned for being a witch kept watch
She kept a nightly vigil, checking on her mother and her sisters.
They had risen toward the top of the lake on magic poles.
Sentinels without eyes, punctured by the good people of Salem,
Who were attempting to get a confession from them of their sins.
The good people were always welcome to swim in the lake.
They could not see the innocent victims, as Sophie could.
Sophie's sparkling personality sprinkles diamonds on the water.
It gives her comfort to be this close to her mother and her aunts.
She had been forced to watch them die.
Her mother had pleaded for the Christians to let her go.
But of course, they had been frenzied, and righteous so….
If you go swimming at night, know that you do not swim alone.
I accuse you, she yelled, pointing to those who thought her dead.
Cowards, they had sailed away after proving her innocence.
Her family was horrified, because now it meant she was a witch.
They screamed and ran away, leaving her behind. She cared not.
I ACCUSE YOU! She screamed at the men on board the ship
Her anger was a bellow across the water. A wise woman came to her.
She put her arm around her and led her to her haven in the forest.
"What is wrong with my people?" the girl asked.
"They know not, what they do," the crone said, her face was harsh
But her soul was kind. The girl sobbed herself to sleep that night.
Left in the forest with a stranger, for her family was too afraid to
Allow here back into the family. Afraid of her witchcraft.
The crone taught her how to garden, gather seeds, fix poultices.
She learned to love the forest animals, the fox, and the squirrel.
She learned what she needed to survive, which was much
As she was alone now, shunned by her family's terror of witches.
Odatella be otis, ye bellos i am not infantile villain odeeon me
Sake it Salem, be clivas, be yet homage as the lord he be
Ground it taken whore impeded the cleist is now a witch it asked o’ parish
Be now die i shan’t mediocre is now corner shaft it bone in he’s body she has villeous Corbett
Be lous loud i sought burn it in mywife love it howreckless loud horn bushes
Baste oh me my own child taken be ritual me justified judgement be nile
My father is yet be sole i chastise is the devil he rebuke my lionsi hidhelpit major
Feeble teaseasahusbandry ofthe cleistme hasten e’ is nowmy killer
Shutupwomanhebe a man of itdesignsoftheheralry be mine i justify me thedevil
Seeknotjustrewardsawomanbeancalde he made she billhe as witches sorcerers be yes silus he abade me ow Salem is philadelpha me you hottest hostissexist me dco me youst yeast itmade e’bread me youster is babe
We me do aliaricanbe witchawomen icastdonolonger is enmade
A portrait me older mage sorcerer I syet
Father is yet me,i sought salem is mehowyetihadmarchedmeaobey
Tis I yet a brother i found means the cyclonicamonster below a scream of the sacrifice sapien
Dote stem demon is he beat the brother, daughtertisitblame
‘’piece me shout heard the locals bade thehorroryaymesuchaman
‘’plead yet taken out me own dog it obeying is treaty yet be me
‘’pleaditforthrightiyet sake she is 18 she losers the work is she yet her eyes
Blame oh the cat it shrieks, be I how do I justify
Weep child come me, lest we find the home yet it he burning man saloon
‘’tie he thecloud a sorcerer be thatone hechangeling, hemadeof us
‘’weep not I fierycurse hecausehemade the book Necromonicon be yet lest
‘’’be me I tied I die Salems lot peach he is death, I hereby me cut he ye
‘’a child is yet me, thorough me begot hurriededly he is burnt
‘’’we empower willet, fransic, dude he featureless, Ramana cod, archibald
'''yes I seize he mine baron childless tis me I ache me burnt timber
Salem
_________________________________________
Unrest of spirit churns behind thy door,
the sin interned therein is quarrelsome
No "witch" that thou hast burned serves to restore
the pitch that has upturned thy moral plumb
Forego thy demons, none would be found here
Such guile belies the pleasure of the young
Until thy trials should rise of fact, not fear,
so will thy measure see the pious hung
_________________________________________
Date: 11/14/2018
Sponsor: Julia Ward
contest: Unrest of Spirit
pure and innocent was the founding
not a witch, death outstanding
family relief at sister’s drowning
Rhyme - Whimsical Fantasy Contest: 3 Lines Writing Challenge Oct 2018
Written 10-28-2018 Sponsor: Dear Heart a.k.a. Broken Wings
The most frightening time of life is when;
One is left outside, a1l alone, in the cold;
Shaking and shivering for someone to hold.
Just when one thinks it's the last breath of life;
A quiet voice of love calls out from deep inside;
Who says, "I am the one who keeps you warm,
heals your sores, and calms the storms.
Trust in me when no one is around and things go wrong;
And I will keep you save. sound, and strong."
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