Lovecraft Poem by Ted L Glines

Lovecraft
by Ted L Glines

nor'eastern salty village
unused piers sagging - grey fog masks
water strangely surging - wrongness here
seagull shrieks - almost seagull
grey tired buildings - sheds, old stores
never open - something in there
watching
old man shuffles - grey slowly shuffles
hunched ancient man - briefly seen face
almost human - like a fish somehow
turns away - shuffles like fog
wisping tendrils seek - town square empty
mist shrouded - empty - watching
brick building looms - squat
old merchant hall - door open broken
something in there - halls black inside
rooms without windows - cobwebs dust
debris of ages - without footprints
no kids play here - flashlight shows dimly
outlines in black - darkness watching
wide staircase leading down
down into black nothing
nothing with a drum - drum beats dimly
deep below - down these stairs
slow steps now - down and down
rock walls wet with rotted moss
slow drum beats louder - chanting sound
down into blackness - turning into red glow
drum beat louder - ancient chanted words
'Ph'hglui mglw'nafh
Cthulhu R'lyeh
Wgah'nagl fhtan'
down these steps
drawn downward down - red glow opens
great rock grotto hall - drum beats loud
so loud - hundreds of forms huddled
old men - like the other
drawn to join them - heart beats with that drum
swaying chanting - voices fill this grotto
'Ph'hglui mglw'nafh
Cthulhu R'lyeh
Wgah'nagl fhtan'
creshendo chanting now
drum - thrumming beating heart - within that altar
huge face astride the altar - wet red alive
not quite human - like a fish
like his face - old shuffling man
but older - uncounted ages older


Author's Notes: Do not say this chant aloud at home. Oh. I should have warned you before you read the poem. My fault. I'm sorry. I hope the Great Cthulhu did not make a mess in your living room. Not housebroken, you know. Attitude issues. This is, of course, a tribute to H. P. Lovecraft, one of my fav story tellers. The 'chant' is from the R'lyeh Text. I hope you like it, and I am so sorry about the mess.