Wolf.

The party had gone really well
but it was time to go,
I said goodbye to all my friends,
those faces that I know,
Then I began the long walk home
and I was not afraid,
Thats no excuse when I look back
at that mistake I made,
For soon I knew without a doubt
that I was not alone,
And as I thought of things I'd heard
it chilled me to the bone,
So I hurried along the street
and ducked around a bend,
That wasn't such a good idea
as it was a dead end,
Turning now to face the threat
I tried to hide my fright,
I saw two men advance on me
their eyes as black as night,
Then I was backed against a wall
my throat had froze in place,
As one man held a pointed knife
with snarl fixed on his face,
Then as I thought my end had come
I saw the strangest sight,
A shadow crept behind the men
It's yellow eyes shone bright,
Then was heard a rumbling growl
that spun the men around,
The biggest wolf I'd ever seen
stood there without a sound,
It's lips drew back revealing teeth
so razor sharp and white,
To those two men at whom it stared
it was a fearful sight,
Then with a snarl the big wolf moved,
the men began to shout,
and in their haste they dropped the knife
while rushing to get out,
Then they were gone into the dark,
it seemed that I was free,
My shoulders slumped in cool relief,
the wolf just stared at me,
And as I looked at lolling tongue
confusion I could feel,
Wolves just didn't live round here,
This whole thing didn't seem real,
As if the wolf could read my thoughts
he seemed to back away,
I will recall what I saw next
until my dying day,
The air around the wolf just gleamed
with tiny pricks of light,
Then swirled with such a dazzling glow
so brilliant in the night,
And where before a wolf had stood
a figure now arose,
He stood there proud before my eyes
without a stitch of clothes,
And then he flashed a brilliant smile
with teeth still dazzling white,
"Be safe," he said before he turned
and vanished in the night.

On Wings of Sleep.

On wings of sleep I come to you
You do not know I'm here,
I lay beside you on your bed,
I whisper in your ear,
Your chest is rising gently,
You murmur in your sleep,
And as I probe into your mind
your breathing becomes deep,
So strongly now I feel your pulse,
the life force in your veins,
And though I yearn to covet it
some shred of will remains,
For I could take you easily
and slake my wicked thirst,
You'd join me in my twilight realm,
this life that I've been cursed,
Too many years I've been alone
and countless lives I've stole,
Not one has made me feel remorse,
Not one has touched my soul,
But you are different from the rest,
You set my spirit free,
You soothe the beast within the man,
that darker side of me,
Within you I can feel at peace,
begin my life again,
But though you'd give me sweet release
I'd only give you pain,
For I was born of darkness
and you are of the light,
My soul is black as Hades door
while yours still shines so bright,
And so I come to you in sleep
and join with you in mind,
The nearest I can be to you
for one such as my kind,
And you sleep on in unknown bliss
for you know nought of me,
Or nightly visits that I make,
Those times you set me free.

The Keeper

Twas back upon a moonlit night
beneath a sky with stars so bright
that I beheld an awesome sight,
Thats when I saw The Keeper.

That night I'd been out for a brew
and stayed till late as most men do,
then walked home by a route I knew,
That night I saw The Keeper.

As the graveyard I went past
I felt a sudden icy blast
that set my heart to beating fast,
And then I saw The Keeper.

By metal gates the figure stood
features hidden by darkened hood,
my legs turned into bits of wood,
I knew it was The Keeper.

My mind flew back to being a lad
and hearing legends from my dad,
the scariest time I'd ever had
Was hearing of The Keeper.

He guards the souls of all the dead,
a fearsome sight my Dad had said,
and on the evil folk he fed,
I knew about The keeper!

And now he stood and looked at me
frozen here beneath this tree
his pointed finger I could see
As I stared at The Keeper.

And as he crossed the middle space
to me, still frozen in my place,
I suddenly saw his awful face
And looked upon The Keeper.

Twas then the spell did finally break
no second glance did I dare take,
but ran hard for my own life's sake
Far away from The Keeper.

My life has changed now since that night
since I beheld that awful sight,
It set me on the path to right,
Because I fear The Keeper.

I know that he still guards his flock,
so please, my friend, you must take stock,
and mend your ways before the shock
Of when you face The Keeper.

A Town Named Doom.

Twas a quaint little town nestled deep between two hills
and it's citizens were purely born and bred,
Sprung from the dust, it was a peaceful place to live
and it's folk were gentle people it was said,
Among the population was a veteran named Old Roy,
a homeless drunk that shambled round all day,
All the townsfolk knew him as the butt of many jokes,
and when he spoke, "You're doomed!" was all he'd say!
The town priest was so proud when a brand new church was built,
he'd often stand and gaze at it with pride,
His sermons were so popular and the church was always full
with the townsfolk every Sunday crammed inside,
One day the priest was stood outside when Old Roy ambled by,
eyeing the priest, "You're doomed!" was all he said,
Twas only minutes later that the townsfolk heard a crash
as the spire fell and crushed the preacher dead!
On the outskirts of the town was where the sawmill used to stand,
the buzzing of it's machines was heard all day,
It was a thriving business and employed a lot of men
until that tragic accident one day,
When the men arrived that day Old Roy was by the gates,
"You're doomed," he said aloud as they walked by,
No one knew exactly how the mill burned to the ground
but the flames all seemed to reach up to the sky,
All towns have a paper and this town produced The Globe,
it's office set back slightly from the street,
The owner, Mr Sugden, liked to print a lot of pictures
of the children, which I guess was rather sweet,
One day while working at the press, Old Roy just staggered in,
he said "You're doomed," before he went back out,
It seems the printing chemicals were the reason for the blast,
Mr Sugden didn't have time to even shout!
Well the townsfolk, not surprisingly, were quick to figure out
that Old Roy was always spotted at the scene,
And being superstitious they were quick to pass the blame
and a mob was formed, their mood was cruel and mean,
Old Roy, it was decided, was a jinx upon the town
and he went from harmless drunk to hated foe,
It didn't take them long to vote for action to be made,
they decided there and then he had to go!
And so Old Roy was bundled up and put into a cart,
then they drove him many miles beyond the town,
All through the ride Old Roy just sat and never said a word,
his face serene as he just gazed around,
They pushed him roughly from the cart before they turned around
and in the dark, "You're doomed," they heard him cry,
Call it Fate or what you like, for later on that night
a meteorite came crashing from the sky!
No one knows about Old Roy, he disappeared from sight,
But legend says that God had sent him down
to warn the folk who turned on him that day so long ago,
before they were all buried with their town!

The Leprechaun

While hiking in Ireland on a cold and crisp morn,
I had an encounter with a real Leprechaun,
He wasn't of great size, just reaching my knees,
But walked right up to me as bold as you please!
"Good morn to thee young man," he said with a bow,
"Pray kindly tell me where you're off to now."
Well, taken aback as I was with this sight,
I said that in Cleveton I'd be spending this night,
With humming and hawing, he scratched at his jaw
and said, "So you need to walk this road for sure!"
I said that I did, and to my great surprise
he puffed out his chest right in front of my eyes!
"Just as I thought," he said, "but just so ye know,
I must collect a toll from ye afore ye can go."
I stood looking down at him, starting to laugh,
and told him this road was a public footpath!
"Now listen," he said with a sweep of his hand,
"I own this road, and I own all this land!
If you're bound for Cleveton, and I know this is true,
Pay me my toll or I won't let ye through!"
Feeling slight anger at this dwarf dressed in green,
I said I'd be damned if I'd pay him one bean!
"Besides," I said, "though this fact escapes your eyes,
You are a midget and I'm thrice your size!"
Though I expected some more of his quips,
A loud peal of laughter spilled forth from his lips!
"A midget?" he cried, plainly thinking me mad,
"Thats one of the funniest names that I've had!
But as you're a stranger," he said with a smile,
"I see you know nothing of this emerald Isle!
Leprechauns are legend and revered by all,
though we are tiny, our powers are tall!
My magic can stop you from travelling this road,
I'll do that by turning you into a toad!"
Becoming alarmed by this turn of events,
I decided to give him a handful of pence.
Dropping my knapsack I knelt on the ground,
The Leprechaun watched as I rummaged around,
Then before I knew it, as quick as a flash,
His little hand greedily snatched up my cash!
As quick as a wink he was gone from my view,
leaving me broke sitting out in the blue!
When I reached Cleveton much later that night,
the constable listened as I recalled my plight,
"So what you are saying is early this morn,
you were held up and robbed by a wee Leprechaun?"
I said that was correct and was indeed the case,
and watched as a scowl settled there on his face!
"I so wish you foreigners would not come out here
and belittle the fables that we hold so dear,
You may think us stupid, but I must insist
that bloody wee Leprechauns just don't exist!"

Invasion

Like a rain of fiery bullets
the capsules fell from space,
And everywhere they touched the earth
a plant grew in that place,
Within the shortest space of time
they grew in every plot,
In gardens, fields, on roadsides,
In the town and parking lots.

They thrived upon our warm rich soil
and grew in strength and size,
But Man still did not see the threat
right there before his eyes,
And then the plants developed spines
so lethal, sharp and thin,
And with this last defence in place
the slaughter could begin.

Pulling roots up from the ground
the plants were free to roam,
Converging on the towns and schools,
surrounding every home,
And those poor souls who ventured out
not knowing they were there,
Became infected by the spines
that fired through the air.

And those that were unfortunate
enough to feel their sting,
Became in turn a spiny plant;
a mindless evil thing,
And so as the infection spread
and panic became rife,
Groups of humans stayed indoors
in a bid to save their life.

By the time the forces came
to kill the plants with fire,
Most of mankind ended up
in one big funeral pyre,
So when you notice that tall plant
with spiky looking stem,
Don't shrug and think "It's just a weed,"
It could be one of them!

Mermaid

The Mermaid sings her lilting song
to all the men at sea,
Her haunting voice invades their dreams,
"Come close, come follow me"
Beneath the waves she mourns alone
and waits for her true love,
Her keening cry will reach the ears
of sailors up above,
For those who just cannot resist
the plea in her soft breath,
Awaits the cold and vicious sea
as they go to their death,
The Mermaid comes to welcome them
and takes them by the hand,
And willingly they follow
to her underwater land,
Some men say she is a curse
on all who sail at sea,
Some believe she feels their pain
and tries to set them free,
But still the Mermaid sings her song
to those who sail above,
Who follow blindly where she leads
and offer her true love.