A new take on Maudlin Manor

Once upon a time ago

There lived a pair of twins

 Rotten little apples

Stuck their dolls with pins

They looked like little angels

Wrapped in silk and pearls

But they were rotten little devils

Masquerading as little girls

They lived in the house called Maudlin

A family name I suppose

But suited to the children

So very lachrymose

They have a nasty habit

Of staring straight ahead

They may have been alive once

But now they’re very dead

They haunt the Maudlin Manor

Walk the creaky floors

Open up the windows

Slam the wooden doors

Take things that they shouldn’t

And hide them where they can

Walk from room to room

Always holding hands

The Story of Maudlin Manor Pt. 1 - 3

Once on a night of cold regret

As I walked a country road

I met a man who offered a ride

Said that it was warmer inside

Said to get in out of the wet

He’d take me as far as I wanted to go

I looked at the man and took his measure

And he seemed a decent chap

The rain beat down in quick succession

Led me to take his proffered suggestion

I shook his hand and called it a pleasure

And then removed my cap

We drove for a bit in the downpour

And the wipers went to and fro

The night grew deeper around us

The forest began to surround us

I said that I’d been there once before

And I knew where I wanted to go

The Peculiar Playground

a poem in the style of Edward Gorey's Gashlycrumb Tinies

A is for Alice who wanted to play

B is for Bonnie who sent her away

C is for Cathy who tried to fit in

D is for Doris unspeakably thin

E is for Eli who breaks out in zits

F is for Francis falling in fits

G is for Gary horribly fat

H is for Helen attracted to that

I is for Ina talks through her nose

J is for Jimmy with terrible toes

K is for Kristin caught in the act

L is for Larry who helped her with that

M is for Mary nose in a book

N is for Neville most likely a crook

O is for Owen whose hair is all wrong

P is for Polly whose arms are too long

Q is for Quentin thinks he’s a looker

R is for Ruthie a cult finally took her

S is for Susan too full of her self

T is for Thomas who thinks he’s an elf

U is for Uri constantly stutters

V is for Victor mind in the gutter

W is for Wendy who’s absent alot

X is for Xander who’s here when he’s not

Y is for Ying of foreign exchange

Z is for Zoe just slightly deranged