A Shadow Suddenly Crossing My Path

I fear to turn; the shadow doth cast
A darkness, an evil, now lain in my path
Instinct said to run, to sprint, get away
Not before ever felt; I know l’m afraid!
But still my feet, my quite stiffened legs
No forward found motion; just violent shakes
My teeth did chatter; my hands did they quake
Heart pounding hard; it seemed it might break
My senses alerted; my adrenaline found
Ears first to notice, the lack of a sound
And quizzicality a sudden thought did arise
The shadow lie silent, no fall nor a rise
In fact it was frozen, in a stoic type mold
Senses returning, and now suddenly bold
I shifted a foot, just inches you see
Curious my action; that all would agree
Although my choice seemed quite risky
Yet sensible to me, for how to know unless I could see
The shadow held fast, not a move, not a sleight
Confidence returning; reducing my fright
I lifted that foot, and took a step forward
The stiffness revealed, as it looked a bit awkward
And with fear in my heart, my eyes travelled down
Slowly they scanned, the length of the ground
The darkness remained, neither stirring or moving
Me senses relaxed; the action quite soothing
For what cause could there be; my mind now to logic
To think that my fear, nearly caused something tragic
Eyes screwed up, half buried in thought
When logic then cast, and that thought, it was caught
Around I must turn; to examine the source
Research and science; follow the course
And with that I turned, and my mind turned to jelly
The wind had arisen, the air turned quite smelly
As if something near putrid, had been cooked on a spit
Then left there to burn, with the ashes and pith
And again I was stiffened, my hackles did rise
The terror engulfed me; a panic inside
Yet resolve I must muster; to the ground did I look
Reaching in my jacket and took out a small book
And a pencil to write with, my hands turned a page
I’ll map out the pathway, follow each stage
To the source, to the start, I channeled some guts
My souls and my conscious both calling me nuts
The earlier dusk had now surrendered to night
I struggled to focus, to find the dark sight
My eyes filled with nighttime; obscuring my sight
And then came the growl; and with it my fright
Then the west treeline erupted; long howls in the night
As the moon in its fullness, emerged like a kite
And I ran and I ran, my legs pumping and swinging
Chest heaving hard; ears stilled by ringing
The thunderous sound of near-primitive crashing
Claws scratching earth, fangs clenched or gnashing
Ahead and behind and both on the sides
No where to run, no where to hide
Yet luck not abandoned, and a shed came into view
My fancy would have it; and there hide, would I do
A small door not locked; another bit of magic
Perhaps not all lost; perhaps not all tragic
Inside did I slip and quite fast did I turn
A twist of the latch, then a match I did burn
In the area I found myself, many tools were afoot
More echoing howls; in this shed I’ll stay put
And while minutes became hours, the howls did not ease
They even continued, as the light broke the east
My confusion, now stirred, and my logic returned
Reviewing the night, to see what I’d learned
The shadow unmoving, the wolves in the dark
The hiding, and hoping; both noticeable marks
And yet, nothing certain; not a creature was seen
In fact nothing else, not a shout or a scream
Could it be that the others; the people in town
Were killed; swept away; consumed with no sound
And here in this shed; I could be the last
Doomed to this prison; my life to harass
By something unseen, that howls in the night
And the long-shadowed creature who gives me no sight
Unnoticed light rays then stream thought the walls
While the howling continues; the shouts more like calls
And the calls seem quite human; as if people are yelling
But no fear in their voices, in fact it’s quite telling
Then the laughter begins; just a smirk then a chortle
And then giggles, and snickers, and around in a circle
A chorus of cheering and many hands clapping
With a smirk on my face; I then realized the game
A Halloween scare; with a victim to shame
And being the sport that I think would show grace
I unlatched the door; and stepped from the space
Yet no people were present; only audio sounds
Speakers and amplifiers; hidden around
But why and for what and for who was this staged
My fear, once quite real; now morphing to rage
And I shouted my anger; my voice deep and in tone
Come face me you coward; my fists you’ll be shown
As my anger played hero, my ears heard the sound
My eyes did their scanning, and looked at the ground
Once again on the ground; a long shadow cast
For a moment I froze; a brief trip to the past
Yet after the morning and the obvious hoax
And the sleep I had missed as I hid in the oaks
I gave not a thought, nor a second, not a moment to waste
To the source of the shadow, this time with no haste
The first blow was lethal; it was just as I turned
A shadowy something; the wounded flesh burned
My last thought came quickly; you smelled it you fool
Human flesh cooking; techno-cannibals…

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The Beast

The Reaper

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R J Schwartz

I write about everything and sometimes nothing at all.I'm fascinated by old things, rusty things, abandoned places, or anywhere that a secret might be unearthed.I'm passionate about history and many of my pieces are anchored in one concept of time or another.I've always been a writer, dating back to my youth, but the last decade has been a time of growth for me.I'm continually pushing the limitations of vocabulary, syntax, and descriptive phrasing.

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