From darkness deep and with its gaze aglow,
retracted claws, the varmint slithers, sneaks
below skeletal branches, tender cunning, slow
its mind on murder, when a sudden creak.
exposes evil and your heartbeats race,
you freeze but still intent you close your fist
around the dagger’s hilt prepared to face
the monsters, demons, those the devil kissed.
Behold, above the silver moon is bared,
and critter shrink to ilk, they scutter, hide
in autumn’s last, in death of maple leaves
as earthworms seek the soil, your dread abide
so you may sleep, while goblins, beasts, as thieves
can seek the shadows down below your bed
to raise again in blackness of the dead
Today Lisa hosts OLN at dVerse when we can either link up any poem of our own or write on one of Lisa’s miniprompt. My choice was to write a sonnet for this time when we are getting close to Halloween.
Also linking up to Poets and Storytellers United since this poem feature the moon.
October 24, 2024
Björn Rudbergs writings 
This is creepy but I can hear it in Vincent Price’s voice. Love the halloween inspired sonnet, though it can scary to find all those shadows & goblins and beasts rising up again, in the blackness of the dead.
Thank you… Love to write dark poetry, the critter of darkness are like roaches, just hiding from the light.
There is such potency in this term:
those the devil kissed.
Interesting to call such a thing a varmint, almost as if it were a term of endearment. Perhaps it can be tamed?
Fear itself is the beast.
Bjorn, then do what you must to dispell it. Learning a new hobby over November maybe? Anything to consume the mind-body but fear.
you have made the sonnet your own as I almost missed the rhymes internal and otherwise
“they scutter, hide
in autumn’s last,”
love the pathos in that line even given the frightful creatures
It was a little wordplay and I find the monsters amusing actually
And a chilly-the-willy sonnet you wrote, icily fictive and skin-crawlingly dreamt! All through it I felt something tapping on my shoulder, whisper-hissing to read on past the devil-kissed. Amen.
It is the season of darkness… at least here up in the North
I feel that I’ve been snuck up on with a toil and trouble spell.
Spellbinding I hope
The sonnet was the perfect choice of form for this Björn, and yes – undertones of Vincent Price…
I wonder if I can get him to read it with AI…
Love the darkness – those the devil kissed
especially in todays world
Ramblings
Alas the devil is all around us (or just the evil in ourselves)
That last stanza is awesome, especially the last two lines!
Daylight is a short repose.
I found these lines highly evocative.
its mind on murder, when a sudden creak.
exposes evil and your heartbeats race,
you freeze but still intent you close your fist
around the dagger’s hilt prepared to face
the monsters, demons, those the devil kissed.
Thank you… it is a specific type of nightmare.
You need Vincent Price to read or Alice Cooper to design a song round it…would make a great intro to his “I love the dead”
Ah… wonder if Sonnets can be set in Metal… have to ask
You know I have a penchant for sonnets, Björn, especially horror and supernatural ones, so this one has filled a gap perfectly for me. The rhythm and rhyme scheme make it lyrical, a song worthy of Iron Maiden. I too could hear Vincent Price reading it.
It would be great set in Metal…
Ooo! Creepy–those skittering creatures, eww! And the shadows beneath the bed. A wonderful sonnet for the season, Björn!
The darkness can be frightening
Yes, it can be.
Truly spooky! And beautifully composed. Horror served up on a platter of great poetry.
Horror is funny to write
That is wonderful! So creepy, and fitting for a few days from Halloween! I was going to say I liked this best, “Behold, above the silver moon is bared,
and critter shrink to ilk, they scutter, hide
in autumn’s last,” however I kept adding more lines to my copy because I love it all so much!
Once I get into pentameter mode… it just keeps coming and with a thesaurus I find a lot of great synonyms to monster.
VERY halloweeny!! I’m sleeping with the lights on tonight😉
A wise choice
I really enjoyed the critters hiding in the dying maple leaves. Great Halloween feel.
Of course we should always have light on
All the creatures in the dead leaves and under beds…timely and atmospheric!
They only grow when light is truly gon
This made me shiver! I am going to look under the bed tonight to make sure there are no monsters there 😳😦
They are good at hiding so you will never find them
Love the darkness here Björn, it’s rich and strong. Journeying into darkness is definitely one of my favorite types if poetry. Such beautiful ebony jewels can be unearthed. Like the master of the deep and dark, Leonard Cohen says:
you want it darker — we kill the flame
I enjoy to write about darkness, but I do not enjoy darkness itself.
Hi Bjorn, this is a terrific Halloween poem. We don’t celebrate Halloween here in South Africa so I like to enjoy the European and American celebrations.
We have imported Halloween unfortunately, but it’s not very intense really. All Saint’s day is still important, going to visit graves.
I understand the importance of All Saint’s day.
There’s still something about what’s under the bed (where dread abides!) that makes me tuck my hands in tight. Good spooky poem. Thank God there’s a silver moon to light the way!:)
The moon is really a saviour sometimes.
Whether I read this in the night or in the day, you evoke the fear of the dark in real time with the air thickening, filled with hidden claws and glowing, threatening eyes! Now I feel prepared to meet Halloween head-on!
I love writing about spookiness
It is wonderful to read your work again Bjorn – it is beautiful – Jae
Thank you
It is wonderful to read your work again Bjorn – it is beautiful – jaw
Goodness! I shouldn’t have read this just before bed!
Maybe I need to have a warning label
This bone chilling delight is every child and parent’s dread!
Thank you… children love to be scared to some extent.
Lovely scary write.
As a child I would look under the bed and behind the curtains nightly, before being confident enough to lie down for sleep – just in case…
Anna :o]
I do not remember the bed, but I do remember running from the outhouse to the house when it was really dark outside.
Nice post 🌺🌺
So fun and creept – but a sonnet? But there is a reason we all love to hide behind blankets and watch a scary movie!
Sonnets are just fun to write and so are scary monsters.
“those the devil kissed” Deliciously creepy!
Love the mood and movement. I can practically hear the critters slithering around, looking for toes to nibble… And a creepy sonnet is just the thing for the season.