Happy Halloween

Finally! Happy Halloween!!!

Death calls upon those from their eternal sleep,

As the moon shines down this chilly night,

And thus begins the dawn of Hallow's Eve,

Unleashing all fear and fright.

Out, from the filthy mounds of earth,

At the end of every October,

To dance once more with the ones they love,

Before returning to their deathly slumber.

Corpses and skeletons dance the darkness away,

As the melody of their cracking bones fill the night,

The air is dense with putrid decay,

And the cemetery is a gruesome sight.

According to the ancient superstition, Death appears at midnight every year on Halloween and he has the power to call forth the dead from their graves to dance for him while he plays his fiddle. His skeletons and corpses dance for him until the first break of dawn, when they must return to their graves until the next year. The dance was called La Danse Macabre, the dance of death.

All classical music lovers, please listen:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyknBTm_YyM
P.S. I still love my previous poem more.

P.P.S. I'm a huge fan of Halloween!

The Mary Celeste Massacre

Lady Beatrice was devastated when she heard the news. A month ago her only son had boarded the HMS Mary Celeste, one of the grandest ships her sleepy town had ever seen.

One morning, Lady Beatrice was out gardening and was surprised when a boy came running to her breathlessly. "The ship, ma'am..." he gasped. "They... they found the HMS Mary Celeste near the port..." She immediately set off for the port while the poor boy was still catching his breath. They found the HMS Mary Celeste. Found? What did he mean by "found"? 

A motley crowd was already gathering near the port and Lady Beatrice squeezed through the crowd with difficulty. Apparently, everyone on board was found dead and the ship had simply drifted back to the port. The bodies had already started decomposing and it was concluded that they were dead for at least two weeks.

That night, Lady Beatrice sat on a cliff overlooking the port. The moon shone down and the ship lurked in the dark almost sinisterly.

"You killed Matthew and everyone on the ship, didn't you?" Someone behind her said. "I saw you that night, sprinkling poison into the tea leaves and I didn't know you were planning on murdering them!"

Lady Beatrice turned around slowly and found herself staring at her son's sobbing fiancee. "Stop this nonsense and come closer, child. Let me see you clearly." Catherine stepped forward into the light reluctantly and screamed when she was suddenly pushed over the cliff.

"My Matthew was a good boy," Lady Beatrice whispered to herself, tears glinting in the moonlight. "He was a decent boy until he wanted to become part of the crew and leave his mother alone in this godforsaken town. I just want to be with my little boy... Forever..." She peered downwards at the crashing waves for a moment and jumped.

I'll always be with you, my Matthew... 

The Bridge of Sighs

"Mais, Grandmere... Pourquoi? Why can't I go to the bridge now?" I remember whining. My grandmother had sighed and said, "You know why, Alice. I've told you the story before." I shook my head defiantly and told her to tell me the story again.

When I was young, I loved my grandmother's stories. Even then, I was enthralled by the eerie, macabre stories where the heroes and heroins in the stories die because of love. I was enchanted by the dark and foreboding background of the stories and I begged my grandmother for them every night before bed.

My grandmother had then smiled at me, relieved that I had decided not to be difficult and pulled me onto her lap. She cleared her throat as usual and began telling the tale. "Now, there was once a young lady who was very much in love with this young man called Demetri. However, another boy, Aidan was also in love with Valerie.

"When they got engaged, Aidan was mad with rage. He swore revenge for his unrequited love and eventually came up with a simple but destructive plan. He sent anonymous letters to Demetri claiming that Valerie was having an affair with the local goldsmith." Here, my grandmother would stop and explain what 'affair' means.

"At first, Demetri disregarded them and did not mention the letters to his fiancee. But one day, Valerie had went to the goldsmith's and had him make a beautiful golden bell with Demetri's name carved on it. Demetri, who was passing by jumped to the wrong conclusions and was furious with her for betraying his trust. He followed her to the bridge where they first met and confronted her. Frightened of her suddenly livid Demetri, she took a few steps backwards and fell headlong into the river.

"Demetri jumped in to rescue her but it was too late. She was already dead. He loosened her tightly clenched hand and was overcame with remorse when he read the inscription on the golden bell. Demetri never remarried."

"And that is why you are not to go to the bridge after dark, macherie. Valerie still haunts the river and they say she would pull little girls into the dark water and watch them drown and sigh with vindictive pleasure. "

I solemnly promised my grandmother that I would never go to the river at night and let her kiss my forehead. That night, when I was half-asleep, I heard the wind beckoning me to the river and I shivered. "Come, Alice..." the wind whispered, "come to me..."

The Lady Of The Sea

"One more story, Grandmere, s'il vous plait?" I would beg. "Tell me the one about the Lady of the Sea?" My grandmother would then sigh and say, "d'accord, one last story and you go to sleep, ma cherie."

When I was young, I used to stay with my grandmother in France every holiday. She had the prettiest little cottage by the sea and I loved it. Every night, I listened to the thrashing sound of the waves when it hit the sand and then wait for it to recede only to crash headlong onto the perfect white sand again. Sometimes, I sat by the window and marvelled at the reflection of the moon or the diamond sparkles glinting off the surface of the smooth water.

My grandmother would tuck me deeper into the bundle of warm blankets and finally begin her story. "Once upon a time, there was a lovely maiden whose name was Helena." She would pause here to tuck my hair behind my ears. "And she had long, dark auburn hair like yours. Now, there was this handsome young man, who was madly in love with her and had asked for her hand in marriage.

"Helena's father, who was the chief in this little village did not approve of their relationship for Etienne was a poor boy who could offer nothing for his daughter. In an attempt to get rid of this boy, Monsieur de Volange, Helena's father, sent him on a war with the other young men. Promising Helena that he would be back, he gave her a stalk of rose and set off." My attention would then automatically shift to the vase of blood red roses on the table by the window.

"For months, Helena waited for her beloved Etienne. She would creep out of her house every night and wander aimlessly along the rocky shore." Here, my grandmother would turn her gaze to the opened window and stare at the sea for a moment before giving a secret little smile as if she had just seen Helena wandering past.

 "Years passed by and Helena had finally accepted that her Etienne was never coming back. She had given her heart and soul to Etienne and when his ship sank, her heart had also drowned with him. "Brokenhearted, the girl plunged into the dark water one night and they never found her body. Legend has it that she had finally joined her lover under the sea where his ship lies. Some people even claimed that they saw her wandering by the shore and out in the sea a pearly white ghost ship had resurfaced from the bottom of the ocean floor. And so, Helena and her Etienne are together again. People have since then called her, The Lady of the Sea."

My grandmother would lean down and kiss my forehead gently. "Sleep, mon amour. And never may your fate be as terrible as Helena's." It was in those nights, that I would dream of Helena, with her long flowing gown of blue silk, billowing in the wind like waves. Only in my dream, I was Helena and I never saw my Etienne again.

Till Death Do Us Part

Come past the nettles that mark my grave,

As the dawn of midnight strikes,

And fulfill your promise to keep me safe,

Under the moon so bright.

Poisoned wine flows from my parted lips,

Come kiss the pain away,

Onto my gown the blood wine drips,

Dead, on my wedding day.

Oh, come to me, my love,

The poison cuts my heart,

And let the phrase mean no more,

"Till death do us part".

P.S. Her name's Annabelle. She's pretty, right?


P.P.S. All poems are written by me unless stated.