The Devil's Playground Poem by Paige Nielsen

Summer stains red;
The devil’s playground beckons—
Come hither.
The wend and weft of evening’s spell
Makes the rosemary cry
Dewy tears,
And the bleeding hearts,
Forget-me-nots,
Paint sonnets of despair on the ground.
The moon’s mouth is an O of orgasmic horror,
As she watches the sky bleed.
Ivy covers the thorns of beguiled black roses,
And crumbling angels without souls to buoy them.
Windfall apples decay.
The rowan tree burns.
A witch’s slaughterhouse is full of weeds,
Overgrown with nightmares.
A sign hangs on the iron gate:
ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE.