Those dream-filled summer nights,
a wail, anguished as a banshee,
pierced the rusty screen.
Then the rhythmic clatter grew
until the bed and I would tremble.
Let me come too, I whispered,
but it never heard,
or didn’t understand,
or didn’t care about a little girl
and a gallant torn-eared bear.
The rumbling, shaking wraith
moved on, its cry waning to an echo,
my heartbeat clinging to the cadence
of away from here, away from
here, away
– Sarah Russell
First published in Black Poppy Review
Photo courtesy of Awsom Wallpapers
Sarah Russell Poetry 
and the two survived the fear – beautiful
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Yes. Thanks, Beth.
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Whoa! That image of a trembling bed/trembling little girl is haunting, Sarah. Dark and emotionally charged. A powerful write.
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Thanks so much, Ryan.
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I was imagining either a tornado or a speeding train. I never encountered a tornado but once unwittingly camped on a hillside beneath a train and the sound and vibration were all consuming. Love the poem top to bottom and especially “pierced the rusty screen” and the “gallant torn-eared bear.”
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Thanks a lot!
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Earthquake is what popped into my mind. What a terrifying experience and you captured that really well in writing which is not an easy thing to do. I love these sort of haunting writes!
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Thanks, Victoria. I don’t do many haunting type things, but this one just sort of popped out and down it went onto the paper.
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Dark and mysterious, a truly haunting write. Love it.
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Thanks so much!
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Beautifully written poem. I can’t help think as much as the girl wanted to go, maybe it was better for her to stay? I’m not sure the clattering and other sense aspects have me the idea this thing isn’t good.
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Thanks for your close read, Mandibelle. I’m not sure either…
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Beautiful and touching
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Thanks so much!
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Pleasure all mine
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This touched me. More so because I was a witness to a similar situation in my childhood. Thanks for giving us these wonderful words
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Me too, Shubhodeep. Thank you.
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Thank you. Dark and mysterious, a truly haunting write.
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Thanks a lot, Nicholas.
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Thank you. I love these sort of haunting writes!
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Thank you! I don’t do too many of the haunting ones, but if you like them, look up Black Poppy Review. It has wonderful poetry in that genre.
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