A Quiet Evening With Poe

M. Fennell

1992

While rummaging through junk in my attic

Behind the photos and cracked ceramics

A dusty book of prose I found

Worthy for me to read aloud

I found myself caught up in the text

Feeling the heartbeat in my chest

I saw the body beneath the floor

And heard the knocking at my door

 

Outside my window I heard form

The thunder of an impending storm

There is was! A light coming forth

Carried swiftly by a demon's horse

 

Light the candle, grab the coat

Recall prayers and psalms to quote

Trying to run out the door

I was blocked by the Raven: "Nevermore"

 

I smashed the window with my book

And without a second look

I hurled my body through the shards

and landed on the ground, rock hard

 

My hand was covered with dripping blood

My head wished this rock was mud

I tried to move, but could only crawl

As I'd broken some bones from the fall

 

Approaching me came the man I killed

Or was it an incarnation of my guilt?

No, it wasn't me, it was Poe!

Then again, I just don't know

 

To the sound of Mozart's Requiem

I face the truth of Satan's realm

To Him now, I must implore

I take a breath just once more