Monday, April 30, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 30

R.I.P.



On the night of the storm
An old woman died
And they buried her under a tree
Next to the lover she’d waited for
And clung to faithfully
And on the stones
Where they lay in repose
A message divided in two
Words to the song that she sung every night
To the portrait of her groom
‘I promise to love you for all of my days
Promise to leave you never
Promise your love and I’ll promise you mine
Forever and ever and ever’

The End

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 29

Epitaph



You walk among the ruins
Of lives and lovers past
Through epitaphs and poetry
The granite words held fast
The bride has stopped beside a grave
More scarred by time than most
It’s not her name that’s etched in stone
Don’t you see?
You were always the ghost



Saturday, April 28, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 28

Return of the Bride

She drifts among the sleepers
Floating through the mist
And beckons you toward her
No power to resist
The years have turned the clock
Back to the time before
And as she calls you closer
You belong to her once more


Friday, April 27, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 27

Forgotten and Forgetting

Angels look to heaven
And tears run from their eyes
Forgotten and forgetting
In this garden of good-byes
Countless songs of sadness
And doubtless many more
Entwined in simple phrases
Ode to those who came before
The trees begin to whisper
As she moves among the tombs
The woman dressed in white
Begins to sing the tune

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 26


Of Things Engraved

The storm has lost its menace
And the sky is gently weeping
In the garden made of stone
A hundred souls are sleeping
As the clouds begin to thin
And the moon begins to play
Tombstones mark the place
The dead show you the way

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 25

The Garden


You run without direction
And yet know every turn
Every step that lay before you
Every leaf and every fern
When you come upon a gate
Set deep inside the stones
It offers you a welcome
To the garden full of bones


Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 24

The Sad Goodbye


Fear and sadness struggle
As you stumble through the halls
Down the spiral staircase
Along the crooked walls
The house is sighing around you
And bids you a sad goodbye
You push through the door
To the garden
And run out into the night



Monday, April 23, 2012

Anatomy of a House - pt. 23

The Girl She Used to Be


The longing in her eyes
Sends you running for the door
But you can’t escape the image
Of the girl she was before
Was it only a trick of the light
That changed the recollection
Of the beauty that stood at the mirror
Lost in her own reflection


Sunday, April 22, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 22

Paper Face


Gone are the auburn tresses
Replaced with shades of grey
The alabaster skin
Is showing the signs of decay
She looks towards you and smiles
Paper face with an uneven grin
And as she reaches toward you
The lightning flashes again




Saturday, April 21, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 21

A Familiar Face
 
Confusion floods your senses
You feel as though lost in a dream
Where everything is eventual
Yet nothing as real as it seems
Outside the rain begins falling
Thunder rocks the skies
Lighting snakes into the room
And lands on the beautiful bride




Friday, April 20, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 20

The Portrait


She glides toward a photo
Taken years long past
A sepia coloured memento
Of someone she loved to the last
An image encased in silver
That time could never erase
Candlelight shifts the shadows
But you recognize the face


Thursday, April 19, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 19

Upon Reflection


She stands in perfect stillness
Reflected in the glass
The candlelight becomes her
A vision from the past
She is a true born beauty
Blue eyes and auburn hair
Calmly she walks toward you
But it seems she’s forgotten you’re there



Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 18

The Veil


At the end of the song
She’s beginning to cry
As she does every night without fail
She moves from your arms
And turns to the mirror 
And slowly she raises the veil






Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 17

The Dance


You enter the lady’s chamber
Feel as though stuck in a trance
She reaches her arms towards you
And pulls you into a dance
You’re powerless to resist her
As you sway across the floor
And as you dance the music box plays
And she sings the song once more
“I promise to love you for all of my days
Promise to leave you never.
Promise you heart and I’ll promise you mine.
Forever and ever and ever.”




Monday, April 16, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 16

The Last Inhabitant


Standing beside the window
Is a woman dressed all in lace
A candle is burning beside her
And a veil covers her face
It seems that she’s quietly sobbing
As she’s done so often before
“Come closer.”
She turns toward you
“I’ve been waiting.”
She opens the door

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 15



The Keyhole

“Won’t you come just a little bit closer?”
Calls a voice that is papery thin
And it seems that you cannot resist it
Though you’re frightened of
What lies within
The door is the kind with a keyhole
Where the light leaks into the hall
You press your eye to the portal
To see who is making the call

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 14

The Spiral Staircase

The spiral staircase invites you to climb
To the room at the top of the stairs
The tune calls you onward
Familiar and yet
Filled with the utmost despair
Your heart pounds in time
To the musical rhyme
As you wind your way step after step
But what you find there
At the top of the stairs
Is something you didn’t expect

Friday, April 13, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt.13

The Room at the Top of the Stairs

From somewhere above you
The floor creaks
And you pick up the threads of a tune
Drifting through cracks in the ceiling
It steals its way into the room
You lay the book on the table
Closed on the final chapter
“Who’s there?” you call to the darkness
The clock in the hall chimes the answer

Thursday, April 12, 2012

The Inhabitants - Anatomy of a House pt. 12

The Bride



The tortured bride
Was never the same
Kept to her room completely
Dressed in a gown that would never be seen
Singing the tune ever sweetly
“I promise to love you
For all of my days
Promise to leave you never
Promise your heart and
I’ll promise you mine
And love you forever and ever.”

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The Inhabitants - Anatomy of a House pt. 11

The Love Letter

The bride in her room
Was singing a tune
And in a heartbeat stopped
Silence hung in the empty hall
Cut short by a single shot
The beautiful lover lay dead on the grass
With eyes staring into the blue
And in his hand a note that read
To thee I will always be true

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The Inhabitants - Anatomy of a House pt. 10

‘Dear Diary’
Read the obsidian tome
‘Tonight we are to be wed
At one we will stay
For the rest of our days’
But before the first kiss
One was dead

Monday, April 9, 2012

The Inhabitants - Anatomy of House pt. 9

The Inhabitants 

A book of leather
Carved and gilded
Tells the tale of woe
Two star crossed lovers
Forbidden sweethearts
These many years ago
The story goes that one
Loved the other
Wholly and without reservation
But when the time came
To promise their lives
It ended without consummation

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt.8

The Library

You are drawn to a room
At the end of the hall
Where music is playing
And books line the walls
Stacked upon tables
At rest on the desk
Is the story of how
The house came to unrest

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt.7

The Clock

The clock in the hallway
Is the grandfather kind
With carvings and gongs
And a key that you wind
The hands reach for numbers
On opposite ends
Stuck at the time when the haunting begins

To the last of the day you open the curtain
Things will be fine
Of that you are certain
You move through the rooms
Feeling at home
No longer afraid
Though you’re never alone
But as the sun sinks
Burns down like a wick
The clock in the hall is
Beginning to tick

Friday, April 6, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 6

The Door and What’s Behind It

The door shrieks on hinges
Two hundred years old
Leads to a passage
Reeking of mold
Paintings in oils 
Usher you in
Wallpaper roses
And ceilings of tin
A breathtaking beauty
Long past her lustre
It’s love at first sight but....
Do you think you can trust her?

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 5


The Skeleton Key

Tight in your grip
Is the skeleton key
That arrived with a letter
Anonymously
Indian ink on a parchment page
Sealed with wax from an erstwhile age
A legacy written in elegant hand
Granting the title of dwelling and land
To the one who inhabits
The house for a night
Put the key in the lock
And turn to the right

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 4

The Facade


The grey of the stones
Rises three floors
Attics and turrets
And four sets of doors
Gargoyles perch on towers of rock
Cast iron lace where widows would walk
A time-ravaged beauty
Just a house, nothing more
But how your hand trembles
When you reach for the door

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 3

The Hanging Tree

As you pass the hanging tree
It reaches for you
Restlessly
Brittle leaves whisper
Birds call a warning
Still the house will be yours 
If you stay until morning

Monday, April 2, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt. 2

The Gate


There is a gate
At the end of the drive
Twisted metal
Looks alive
It opens slowly
Rust on rust
Just wide enough
To earn your trust
Enter will you if you dare
But know that she is waiting there

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Anatomy of a House pt.1

The Last Inhabitant


An empty shell choked with vines
Where people danced
The wind resides
Breathless in a crowded room
No laughter
To dispel the gloom
A single shadow walks the floors
Peeps through keyholes
Opens doors
The last inhabitant
Lets you in
But will she let you out again?