A Stolen Man's Fate

As I sit out upon my graceful swing,
I stare out across the waving trees,
Something strange this evening
Shades through the air of the cool night breeze.

I am unaware of what it brings,
Its tokens to me it does fiddle and faddle,
A shade, a wraith, a demon with wings?
A trickster with whom my mind does battle.

Imagine I, the worst it’d be,
The devil himself to snatch my soul,
Why not I, this evening
Gird up my loins and be faithful?

My fanciful thoughts are set at ease,
When I hear the honks of a passing flock,
My glance ascends to see some geese,
But their shadows to me ruthlessly mock.

Almost as if toying with the trees
Who sway back and forth so innocently,
But it be not the geese that tickles my knees
For a spook in the air this thing must be.

Something awry I feel it here,
While sitting I hear the howl of a beast,
A dreadful one, it sounds so near!
One straight from the depths of doom at least!

And e’en yet still my knees do itch,
And I fear my soul is dawned with fees,
The beast comes howling, a buzzing pitch!
I sigh as I see it’s just some bees.

I suppose my mind is preoccupied,
But this time I see something aghast,
This time it’s no trick of the mind,
It’s as real as a memory of my past!

An image in front of me I behold,
So terrible it, I cannot speak,
It chilled my body to the bone,
And made my limbs so frail and weak.

My face went pail and my stomach fell,
I turned away but it was too late,
I’d warn you of how to avoid this hell,
But it’s already stolen and sealed my fate!

-Jacob Winterfeldt