The Wailing Woman: by Elizabeth Mathews
The Wailing Woman …
Have you heard of the wailing woman?
She lives in a room on the third floor
Of this dying brick building
She takes long showers once a week
She makes her coffee in the morning
Or is it tea?
Is she a tea drinker?
She removes her rubbish and tends to her laundry
Under night’s cover
Have you heard her through the pipes?
Or cascading down these crumbing walls?
Crying at night
Over odd, repetitious melodies
Patterns, like heartbeats of the earth
The gather together and sink
Weeping, dripping through the cracks
The floorboards ache
With her pacing
She burns strange herbs and candles
And whispers loud enough for the vents to carry the sound
Some have heard her say
“Take my hand, together we will
Go down to the River.”
Should you ever meet the wailing woman
Do not take her hand
She will take you down to the River
~~~~
© 2022 Elizabeth Mathews
‘The Wailing Woman’ was written by Guest Author Elizabeth Mathews. We thank Elizabeth for contributing to TCE with this great poem for the Halloween 2022 Poetry Contest,
Follow this link for more great poems by our Guest Authors.
https://www.creativeexiles.com/author/guestauthor/
Also follow this link for all Halloween articles.
https://www.creativeexiles.com/category/halloween/
I am also an author on TCE and write mainly in poetry and short stories.
I have always liked to write.It is important to me that writing comes from my heart and soul. When writing poetry, if I do not feel a spiritual connection to what I am writing on, I will discard it and go on to something I can connect with on a spiritual level. I live in the moment, I write from the past or beyond the veil. When writing fiction I go with whatever inspires me at the moment - it could be funny, sorrowful, romantic or sometimes done with the use of colloquial language from mountain folk or other cultural regions.
I began writing content online in 2007, starting with BellaOnline - A Voice For Women, where I was the Native American Editor, Folklore & Mythology Editor, and the Appalachian Editor. I also wrote articles forThe Examiner, Daily Two Cents, and Yahoo. I am a freelance writer for Fiverr. I am currently an author on HubPages, a member/author of the Maven Coalition, and Senior Editor and an author for The Creative Exiles.
Most of what I write takes a lot of research and I love it. Even if it is a fictional story, I will research for accuracy in whatever it takes to make my characters, their era, their location, etc. become realistic to the reader.
I hope you enjoy my works. Thank you for visiting.
- The Wailing Woman: by Elizabeth Mathews - October 30, 2022
- Our Night Our Time: by Beth Butler - October 27, 2022
- Captain Elliott Spencer: by Jeff Andreis - October 25, 2022
Elizabeth, Thank you for contributing to our Halloween Poetry contest. We appreciate it.
Gave me the chills. Thank you for your poem. Jamie