A Riff On Colleen Courtney's 'A Witch's Grave' Poem by David McLansky

A Riff On Colleen Courtney's 'A Witch's Grave'



I searched the headstones for my Mary
Who Death decided to take so early;
When I chanced upon
A bush of thorns
Sharp pricker spikes
Two inches long;
Within the thicket
The tangled web
Stood the stone
Of unnamed dead
I asked the keeper
Who kept the grounds
Why he did not cut
The thicket down;
He eyed me with a mocking leer,
His lips betrayed a sense of fear;
He whispered low, a throaty sound
He hung his head while looking round,

'I've tried to cut the brambles down,
I've hewed the branches near the ground
I broke three blades of my saw,
I clipped the needles that stabbed and tore
My shirt and flesh, my dungerees,
As I bent low, squatting on my knees.
But as I labored to cut and trim
It sprouted spikes, I couldn't win;
And then I espied what was writ
As I bent low and strained to twist,
The epitaph carved in stone;
I read it with a silent moan;
Here lies the body of a witch
Hung and burnt,
In bubbling pitch,
She cursed us as the flames grew higher
Writhing in the burning fire;
Her charred bones are buried here,
In a leaded coffin bier,
These briars encase her
Burnt remains,
Yet she seeks a mortal frame;
Do not cut these prickly vines
Which snake about her tomb and climb;
Do not trim or deracinate
These tangled briars that seal her fate;
This bitter wood entombs her will
Which still seeks vengeance
As it always will.'

His eyes stood round and big as quarters,
He stammered and made this final offer,
'I am afraid I carved a path
Of escape for her evil and her wrath;
Two deacons in the village died
Just yesterday, to our surprise;
They were healthy men
Still in their prime;
I've opened up a path to crime.'

Monday, June 16, 2014
Topic(s) of this poem: love
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Colleen Courtney 16 June 2014

Haha! So loving this David! What an imagination! If only the inscription on the headstone were legible! It seems to be quite lengthy but after all these years it's just a bunch of squiggly lines! Snapped a great pic! Managed to keep my clothing intact but the pricklers did a job on my arms and legs! That'll teach me to wear shorts while cemetery hunting! Thanks for the great riff! Of course it's added to my favorites!

0 0 Reply
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Close
Error Success