Shadow

Like a vapour, or a veil
Or a scrim that shades detail,
She deceives and she confines,
She interferes and undermines.
With dark intent and appetite
For infant flesh and soul alike,
She appeared in her disguise
As mother dear to lonely eyes.

And thus the witch, she passed the test,
Replacing mother’s tender breast
With poisoned cup, she gave her fill,
Enough to bind, but not to kill.
With fevered brow and little screams
The girl awakened from her dreams.
A constant presence dark and dread,
A terror looming o’er her bed.

The child soon became the bride.
The great seductress by her side
Cast her ancient, stinking web,
Ensnaring groom and wedding bed.
So passed the time and mother dear
Enchanted both, but secret fears
Of something hidden, undefined,
Began to surface in their minds.

Then to their joy, a child was born,
Their fears forgot, or worse, ignored.
Meanwhile the liar set her trap
Taking the child on her lap.
The boy, the father, he perceived
The perfect mother, for his seed.
The circle drawn, the stars aligned,
And it was blissful, for a time.

The child’s mother, still would quake
Under the terror, stirred awake
By memories old and horror deep.
She could not turn her mind to sleep,
So went to look in at her child,
To sit and hold her babe awhile.
And there the witch, the shadow dread
Stood o’er the crib, then turned her head.

“Mother dear!”, at first, she cried,
But when the ancient visage spied,
She flung the curtains to the side,
And called the dawn to come inside.
The husband burst in from the hall
Protecting mother, child, all.
But his perspective showed him two,
The perfect mother, mother new.

The boy , the father split in two,
The witch, she claimed the first, and flew.
The husband fell, the hero dead,
The mother staggered to the bed.
She clutched the baby, held her fast,
The scales had fallen off at last,
And on her knees, she wailed her grief,
The truth, the decades lived asleep.

And from her deepest, searing pain,
She found the strength to live again.
And time, it healed their broken hearts,
Released their fears, dispelled the dark,
But still the witch, she holds the boy
Her golden captive, child toy,
Her poison daily she applies
And keeps him smiling, by her side.