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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.”

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

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

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

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

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.”

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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?