Seven Gothic Tales
I. A riot of
colours
His hair was a
shock of violet
decked in an
indigo-coloured shirt
his veins were
blue and coarse
He was lying
motionless on the green grass
foaming with
yellow
against the orange
sky
red was everywhere
The forest ahead
was
turning black with
darkness
and the pure white
doves- they flew away
(away, away, away)
II. She
She woke up to the
sound of silence
sunlight was
peeping through the stained-glass windows
the pile of dust
rose from the dead and twirled towards light
but her eyes
remained tightly shut.
She woke up to the
sound of hunger
the searing heat
burning her skin
the pile of dust
twirled and scattered with great force
but still her eyes
remained tightly shut.
She woke up to the
sound of the owls and crickets
the cool moonbeams
kissing her pale face
the pile of dust
began to settle down and rest
and her eyes that
remained tightly shut
began to open...
III.
Sleepwalking
I saw him only
once
his silhouette against
the silver moon
He was on the
plains ahead
sitting on top of
a horse
wielding and
waving his sword
towards me
(Come, he
gestured)
I started walking
forward
and forward
there was a desire
I could not resist
and so I ran
(Run to me, he
gestured)
With a loud crack
I was jolted awake
only to find
myself
stepping on a pile
of bones and a sword
dripping red
with confusion.
IV. Dreams of
the walking dead
They were walking
across graves
to the towns
into the shops and
houses
They felt no
sadness
no blinding anger
much less
happiness;
only hunger
Occasionally
they would close
their eyes
and dream of pain
and heartbeats
Nothing would
satiate
their eternal
hunger
more than the
fulfilment
of truly living
again.
V. Delusions
She began to sing
the lullaby
in a minor key and
chuckled at her ingenuity
(He held her
tighter in her arms)
She looked into
the sockets
and smiled back
sweetly
(he looked right
back at her and gave a heartbreaking smile)
She kissed the
bones to sleep
and said
"Good night, good night"
("good
night", he said)
"I'm with you
always"
(and his silence
meant consent)
VI. Apparitions
Vampires were
dancing in the sun
they were
glittering like diamonds
Monsters frolicked
in the pool
they were big and
proud
White figures
leaped in the air
they ran like the
wind
And in a blink
the room was dark
once more.
VII. The End
It was a bright
and sunny day
the world was full
of colours
left behind by the
boy who a riot of colours
Today began
with another boy
who was preparing
for the same end
at the far end of
the rainbow that arched across the sky
He longed for the
girl who would never again awake
a life cut short
by a man on the horse against the silver moon
He was the dream of
the dead: of pain and endless heartbeats
he was sick of the
girl in that house who talked and kissed bones
and his
apparitions became his only joy and sign of life
and so he watched
the pure white doves fly away
the forest turn
black
red was everywhere
and against the orange sky
the foams were
yellow
as he laid on the
green grass
veins turned blue
and coarse
and he was decked
in an indigo-coloured shirt
his hair a shock
of purple
and he was
away,away,away...
