Come…
Come…
Come…
Come…
Come…
What whisper summons me?
Is it the wind
in drying leaves?
Come to me…
Whispers of doom,
or hoot of owls
or howls of wolves?
Come...
I am coming, yes…
The whispers grow,
and whirl, and growl…
In their cold embrace,
I glide
on the dark shore,
in noctambulous walk.
The sea - a beast of tar -
sends rumbling surf,
torn veils
of phantom brides,
onto the sand.
Come to me…
From far, from near,
a song of death
and love
entwined.
I am here…
I see the ghostly ship,
its masts, and spars, and sails
bleak statues of decay,
no living soul on it
yet full of empty souls.
My home,
to make of thee?
A stir in me…
Run, I could
still run away!
Too late,
the boat slides
nearer.
My bride… Come…
Ghosts
ply the oars.
And at its bow
I see your eyes of fire
bear down on me
with sweet
infernal
love.
Like in a dream,
I step into the waves.
Come…
I’m coming…
My robes are heavy
chains held by Okeanos.
Unearthly arms of fog
extend to help me.
How proud you are,
tall at the prow,
your gaze of embers
lights your
handsome face -
a beacon
in my night.
Come quicker… Hurry…
But what is this?
I falter,
my eyes still
in your hypnotic grasp.
Shouts, vile barks,
thunder of guns
awaken me, while
torches light the sand.
The sea’s aflame.
The spectral boat
is fading,
multitudes close in.
A step
and then another,
The sea embraces me.
Come…
I almost touch your hand.
Strong voices call my name,
voices alive,
not... dead…
My struggle’s vain
I’m dragged away
pulled from your ghostly grip
by warm, live arms of men.
I know, my darling,
all is lost,
until next time…
And, as I close my eyes
against the burning night,
carried afar,
your waning whisper echoes
on my face,
Next time…
This is my entry for Haunting October Blogfest. This poem has appeared on this blog exactly six years ago, as part of my first Halloween in the blogosphere... The painting of the ship belongs to Marco Hassman at Last Travel Art. Comments are, as always, most welcome. Happy Scares!
31 comments:
Great entry for Denise's HAUNTING blogfest. Evocative, yearning, and chilling all at once. Thanks for your kind words on my blog entry. :-)
Lovely entry. So full of loss and longing. Such sadness and despair.
Some elegant, haunting imagery in your post. I especially like the "torn veils of phantom brides on the sand." I pictured an otherworldly woman tumbling on shore as part of the wave.
Thanks,
Gina
Thank you, Roland! Thanks for the link to the blogfest and... I'm soooo glad you liked this!!! :-)
Jenny, thank you kindly for your very nice words. And thank you for visiting my blog! :-)
Gina, there are some images that I find particularly scary (like children in a horror movie...) and this is one of them... brides that were meant to be and were not, the lace of their discarded veils washing upon a shore in the dark, mingling with the spume of a darker ocean... :-) Thank you!!! And thank you for stopping by! :-)
Such a lovely haunting poem! Congratulations and the picture to go with it - an awesome choice!
Happy Halloween!
The artwork first caught my eye! How beautiful, how evocative of your poetry. "Come", an intense messages throughout your poem. She will return to her love, but not yet...soon. Your imagery is strong - like Gina, I especially liked: "torn veils of phantom brides on the sand."
Thank you for dusting off this previous entry and reposting to a new audience in the WEP blogfest. I loved it. I'm certain everyone will.
Lovely to meet you Vesper. I hope we hear from you again.
Denise
The repetitive come... come... come... heightens the sense of longing...
The poem is both sad and sinister at the same time. Makes me wonder about the brides, and what has become of them...?
Beautiful writing.
Writer In Transit
Very vivid and emotive - I loved this. Splendid.
Incredible painting. And what a great poem for the season. Chilling and eerie.
Oh wow- what a real treat this turned out to be!
What a haunting and passionate poem. I loved it!
This definitely fits the theme for the month, so haunting! Beautifully written, it pulled me right in.
A wonderful word association for Halloween.
Loved your line about the cold embrace of the whispers...chilling! Great poem. :)
The people who chose to do verse instead of prose with this blog fest really caught my attention. And what you've done here is also artistically-rendered in terms of the visual experience. Very nice.
Ooo, definitely haunting! I liked the rhythm and the push and pull.
Shannon at The Warrior Muse
Suicide i a choice and life is a choice, desire and choice are two different things eh?
Cool that you reposted your first Halloween blog entry. I've always been fascinated by the story of the Flying Dutchman.
Haunting and lyrical, magical and eerie, I could hear it being sung on the waves. Great entry.
Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN has always appealed to me. I guess that is why I put him and his craft in the second part of my serial trilogy.
Have a great weekend. :-)
The Flying Dutchman; a ghost at sea. Now we have everything in our Halloween collection. Very good!
Best wishes,
Anna
Anna's WEP-Challenge for October: Haunting
Oh, I loved this, Vesper! The repetition of the "come" was like a haunting drumbeat. Spooky as hell! I'll be sleeping with one eye open tonight. :)
I'm always amazed by poetry, and this is no exception. The subject is clear and so well presented. I love it.
Nancy
Evocative, chilling poetry. Excellent entry Vesper.
Hmm, I thought I had commented earlier. Sorry for seeming to arrive late.
......dhole
Love the poem! Thanks for sharing.
Everybody, I apologize for my late reply! Thank you very much for caring enough to leave a comment. :-)
Yolanda Renee, thank you so much! You’re very kind. And thank you for visiting!
Denise, thank you for saying such nice things! I’m glad I was able to be a part of your blogfest! Such a pleasure to meet so many talented and friendly people.
Michelle Wallace, the brides… perhaps the ones who did climb on the boat… :-)
Thank you! And thank you for stopping by!
Keith, wow, thank you! :-)
Charles, thank you! I think those spikes everywhere make it even scarier.
Beverly Fox, thank you kindly! And thank you for visiting!
Chrys Fey, thank you for your kind words! And thank you for stopping by and for following this blog! :-)
Laura, I appreciate your praise very much. And thank you for visiting!
Bernard, thank you my friend! :-)
Raquel Byrnes, thank you kindly! Also thank you for visiting and for following this blog! :-)
Suze, thank you very much! For me it’s the way the idea first sounds in my head… sometimes it sounds like prose, other times it tries to resemble poetry… Thank you for stopping by! :-)
Shannon Lawrence, glad you liked! Thank you and thank you for visiting! :-)
Mark, sometimes we’re just too confused to differentiate…
Li, thank you! Yes, me too! Thank you for visiting. :-)
Sally, thank you so much for your kind words! Thank you for visiting. :-)
Roland, I’m very much looking forward to reading it! :-)
Anna Nordeman, thank you so much! Much appreciated. Also, thank you for visiting my blog and for following it. :-)
TALON, I’m so happy you liked this! Thank you! I hope you got a good sleep. ;-) :-) :-)
Nancy, I appreciate this very much. Thank you. And thank you for visiting. :-)
Donna Hole, I’m glad you liked this. Thank you. :-) I appreciate your visit! (It’s never too late… :-) )
The Armchair Squid, thank you! And thank you for visiting. :-)
glad you stopped in or i would have missed this one...some how...ha...very cool....you def set a very haunting feel...i like the repetition...being pulled back by the living even when you have the desire...nice...
Hey, Brian! Thanks for your kind words... Always much appreciated... :-)
My pleasure and thanks for following. Happy to return the favor.
No matter the logic, the reasoning, longing stays.
That is tough :(
-
I liked the repetitions and the images, too.
Looking forward to your next post :)
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