Quote

Time echoes the clarity of hindsight

Halloween Dare

Tonight was the night... four wild teens, armed with a plan

Torch, camera, tea light's, salty snacks... packed in rucksack 

With their long-awaited freedom... they’d formed a clan

October’s sky adorned... magnificent full moon

Two hours before parents designated curfew

Tonight would be their first festive Trick-or-Treat dare

Adrenaline pumping rapidly... but they weren’t scared! 

They met up outside the dilapidated house; 

confident they'd get in, excited.... they’d no doubts 

Miss Pulpo, spinster, old teacher... who’d long since passed 

Her house stood derelict... in state of ill-repute

All windows, doors boarded securely... nailed tight shut 

Mounting gate; only deterrent... neighbourhood mutt

Rotten boards they managed, with ease, to prise open;

to impress girls, Karate chopped... they'd broken 

Alan and John demonstrating... strong male prowess

Two girls, Lisa and Kate, they glowed... dressed to impress

(best friends from pre-school) drawn to all things... dangerous! 

Into abandoned house... they stealthily entered 

Cheering success, with stifled, tipsy... giggle grins 

Drinking, and lighting up their stolen cigarettes

They roamed through the house with foolhardy... cocksureness

Downing cheap cider from the plastic bottle’s neck

Lighting tinned candles with zippo lighter’s... finesse

Began to chalk Ouija board’s precise sequence 

The girls taking great pains... their artwork to perfect

John asking “you think they’d deliver... Pizza Express?”

Multi-pack of crisps eaten and more cider drunk

They, at last, formed tight circle to perform seance

Kate had set her camera running to capture the scene 

All concentrating, thought it a farce... secretly 

They proceeded with ritual... in dim scanty-light

Things started to go wrong, as glass spun... heedlessly 

”I can’t keep hold... it's out of control!” Lisa screamed! 

“You must!” yelled Kate. “If you don't it will never... leave”

“WTF... there’s... smoke!” John exclaimed it disbelief! 

It was obvious now that no one was pushing,

when the glass flipped and took on a mind of its own

All four teens, transfixed, scared equally;

wished that they had stayed home... hadn't gone there alone 

They’d obviously summoned an evil entity

Shadowed figure appeared... clearly, cause for concern!

Boys were visibly shaken... turned a shade of stone 

The girls tried, in vain, to ask dark spirit to leave

Dawned on them at last... how they'd all been so naive!

They stared at each other...  utterly horrified! 

Evil flames flickering... fear’s torch burned in their eyes 

Iced fingers, bristled neck hairs... primal sense of dread 

Remembering... what John’s brother, Billy had said 

“Ouija board’s no toy, dudes... shouldn't mess with the dead.”

Glass levitated, cracked... shattered over their heads

The floor shook... the house creaked and heaved, as rubble fell

Before them... flamed archaic script words were spelled

They could only just make out... word repeated ‘DEATH’

The dark spirit, now maniacally cackling; 

crept, crawled slowly up each wall... like possessed mercury 

Rancid drips of white liquid fell from the ceiling 

onto the stunned teens’ heads... who were petrified

Hypnotised by the demonic apparition 

Gliding up and down... like white lava-lamp phantasm

Feeling a sickening... trickling sensation 

running down their faces... thick squirming cold liquid;

slipping into them... long tentacles of a squid

Alan ran for the door in a bid to escape 

but suddenly an ungodly vortex appeared in his way

Sucked him violently into eye‘s darkling cyclone 

His poor helpless body forever suspended

in terrible writhing, wailing... Hell’s echoed moans

Remaining three... jumped to their feet, clawed at window

Faces etched with blind panic... red-veined eyes distressed

Their fingertips bleeding as each snapped at nail beds 

One by one... each teen was pulled into the vortex 

All that was left behind... rucksack, empty bottle

House stood vacant.. eerily silent once more

The candles extinguished, Ouija’s inscriptions 

melted away debris’ veil of dust... erased

The only noise to be heard now... the old swing gate; 

squeeking, rusty... beyond blown-open rear door

Kate’s camera, still recording, on rat-knawed floorboards

Maybe months before personal effects are found  

Their lost souls forever... unto this house are bound 

Beware All Hallows Eve’s myths, legends... those unseen!

As the wayward tragic foursome’s story has shown 

No one knows... what of their poor young souls, has become

In fact... only Kate’s distorted footage remains 

But don't worry... I've stored it with rucksack, away,

underneath unmarked papers and empty textbooks

Somewhere... I know no one will ever think to look 

“Who me... what’s my name? I’m sorry didn't you know?”

“Why, Miss Pulpo - spinster, teacher... this is MY home!”

 

© Debbie Razey 2022 - Violet Moon Poetry

Pumpkin

head cleared of contents

 in order to see the light

- pumpkin fills the air

Original photo and poem by © Debbie Razey 2014

#senryu 

All Hallows Eve

All

Saints'

Eve Night, 

filled with fright

(so the legend goes) 

as souls of the dead return home

Although today's Halloween is a much more fun scene

with Jack O'lanterns, "Trick-or-Treat" sweets and scary costumes... enjoyed by both young and old! 

© Debbie Razey 2014

#fibonacci

Ashen Grace

Cold sweats...

her slumber stirs;

moths trapped inside ribcage 

Iced finger-tips trace down her spine 

...she waits

Breath quick;

eyes tightly shut

...paralysed; struck by fear 

Heartbeat amplified; deafening

...he's near

Clutching

her heart in throat...

her sanity unfurls

Draws blood with fingernails... her screams

...unheard

Day dawns

the night has gone

...she lies in ashen grace

Cold...yet clearly her fear still etched 

on face

© Debbie Razey 2014

Art by Maja Topcagic 

Passion's Thirst (Micropoetry)

Be my

water

so I can 

bathe

in your

deep

pool of

desire

Drink

in your

very

essence...

so to

quench

my

passion's

thirst

© Debbie Razey 2014

Forewarned

When the floods of retribution hit

and the glaciers melt as our hearts freeze

Then will we heed what we've been forewarned?

When the Arc we thought inconsequential 

becomes more than a necessity

Will we emerge from this hibernation of ignorance? 

The skies wane above us... so clear to see

The oceanic life depletes... oil drenched tirelessly

Will the animal kingdom then turn to technology 

...I think not! 

© Debbie Razey 2014

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (senryu)

medical 'zebras'

rare in condition and heart - 

they have earned their stripes 

Debbie Razey 2014

Azure sky (senryu)

blue tinged memories

camouflaged within my mood

- azure skies restores

Debbie Razey 2014 

Lucid Dream

Shedding perceptions, one veil at a time 

Stepping out from beneath fear's canopy

Skating the serpentine energy plains

Seeing finally... what I'm meant to see

Subliminally... through a lucid dream 

© Debbie Razey 2014

Individually a 'We'

I do not see your colour 

race, ethnicity

or your religion, caste, creed,

status, nationality  

               I see you... as I see me

I do not see your gender, 

sexuality,

or your profession, I.Q.

physique, disability 

               I see us all... as a 'we'

© Debbie Razey 2014

Not yet

Left alone with my dreams 

Lost...  in a you-shaped space

Friendship ended too soon

Although we were never face to face

My heart still thinks of you 

Mind wandering to where you are at

Music triggers conversations spent 

Oh how I miss our impromptu chats

Never to share the majestic night sky 

Or to experience each other physically  

Confined, each by our own now 

Not yet... able to break free

© Debbie Razey 2014

Persephone (haiku / senryu)

Demeter's blithe tears

daughter's return; shoots spring forth 

- autumn her despair

Debbie Razey 2014

Next Generation

I fear for the next

generation's innocence 

- grief and hate-drenched hearts

their clear azure skies 

polluted by greed and war

- let love radiate 

© Debbie Razey 2014

Eden (senryu)

serpentine tendrils 

cascade down her arched bare back

- echoes from Eden  

© Debbie Razey 2014

Art by Arkady Ostritsky 

The Blues (senryu/haiku)

marooned upon rocks

unknown waters encompass

- immersed in the blues 

© Debbie Razey 2014

Artist Sarah Trefny

Unfold (haiku/senryu)

let me unfold, one

fragile petal at a time

- nectar lies within

© Debbie Razey 2014

Awoken (tanka)

My first and last thought

...body and mind, yearns for you 

Awoken my soul

...melted all inhibitions 

I see clearly... breathe anew 

Debbie Razey 2014

 

Light within (tanka)

Night invigorates

mind of possibilities; 

blanketed by day

Convention over shadows

own light simmering within 

Debbie Razey 2014

#tanka

 

Carmine Sky

night's carmine tinged sky

burning today's silhouettes

- embers ignite dawn 

© Debbie Razey 2014

Empty Boat (tanka)

Empty boat, filled with 

thoughts of you... oh how I'd love 

to lie here beneath 

this coral, amber muddied 

autumn sky... one day with you

Debbie Razey 2014 

#tanka

Ancient Wisdom (fibonacci)

We

Think

We know;

Have progressed

Though I fear we don't

Understand, no longer relate 

To the reality of actual existence. 

Ancient philosophy, eclipsed by the misconception of scientific knowledge.

Stuff

Genes

Controls

Our whole lives.

Darwinian strive

Blinkers our deep intrinsic need

For an empathic civilisation to unfurl.

Our planet's imminent extinction; we've paved in war, pollution, destruction and gold

Let's

Gaze

Back to

Wisdoms of

Old; Quantum Physics

Recall energy shapes matter.

Consciousness, love and positive thought can save our world.

Become masters of our own bodies; find balance and harmony; learn to live as one.

We

With

Vision

Can transform 

Civilisation. 

Be one 'World Nation'; at last whole

Thrive, transcend to superior possibilities.

Through compassion, truth, nurture and conviction; a new anthropic beginning... not end

Debbie Razey 2014

 

Breeze (haiku)

Gaia's gentle breath

master choreographer

- peaceful spectacle

Debbie Razey 2014

Ebola (haiku)

Ebola's long arm

of death claws it's way further

- loved ones hugged tightly 

© Debbie Razey 2014

Burning Darkness

When it's time for the darkness to begin burning vivid, horrendous images 

onto your retinas; consuming you with night terrors... leaving you undone

Who will be there to remind you that you're safe and that your mission is done?

When the sweats, shakes, tics, pain and panic ravage at your body;

your breath and sanity prove hard to find... as you take cover on the floor

Who will be there to help you back to you feet; to stand tall again once more?

When you're wrestling with your conscience over things that you were forced to do

Overwhelmed by survivor's guilt, despair and grief for comrades... friends lost

Who will be there for you to scream at, cry, offload to; if you ever feel that you can accost?

When everyday sounds, smells trigger flashbacks and you relive the trauma all over again

Left frustrated, angry, numb, isolated; all crowds, strangers, gatherings...potential threats

Who will be there to remind you that for your sacrifices, we are, as a country in your debt?

Let us not leave them to fight this burning darkness ~ *Combat PTSD*... alone 

© Debbie Razey 2014

Wanted

Don't worry

I get it...
really.... it's ok

I just need you to know...
I wanted you

...in every conceivable way

So if the feeling ever takes you...
catch a ferry to my arms
or jet across the sky to me...
from your somewhere

...far away

Until that day

I'll see you...

in my thoughts...

each and every day
Thinking of what could've been

...wishing my delusions had stayed 

© Debbie Razey 2015

Notes

Spine beckons his wanton fingers' pressure

...to play her notes

Caressing over her frets; taut strung strings

...he plucks each note

Invoking... sweet ecstasy's melodic

harmonic notes

Electricity humming... vibrating 

under his powerful rhythmic strumming 

©Debbie Razey 2014

Ruminant Grace (Monotetra)

These chains no longer bind me now

Broken free, yet unsure of how 

Perhaps harmonised with Tao

Transformed somehow, transformed somehow 

Though still shackled physically

My spirit now meanders free

Dead the person I used to be 

Eternally, eternally 

My mind is now transcending space

No longer feel need, to keep pace

Swaddled in nature's warm embrace

Ruminant grace, ruminant grace

When feeling trapped and low on fight

Remember to keep within sight 

Hope, dreams and compassion's plight 

The inner light, the inner light

© Debbie Razey 2014