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POSSESSED
Chapter 1
THE JOURNEY
Tossing in his
bed at night
In a fit of sleepless flight
A young man of some twenty years
fought to quell his drowsy fears
Dreams and
visions in his head
Followed him beyond his bed.
They seemed to haunt him everyday,
In all he did, in every way.
And in the
spring of 94,
Late one night he crossed the floor
In answer to the calling sea,
To seek and find his destiny.
Though his
mother loved him well
She could not truly hope to tell
This young man that he should stay
For young men’s hearts don’t work that way.
He wondered
then for months and years,
Tempered by his trials and tears,
Across the ocean far and wide
Without contentment to reside.
A calling voice
within his soul
Caused him ceaselessly to roll
And toss throughout those endless nights
A fancy to his heart’s delight.
The voice of
sweet and charming heart
That had called him from the start
Still held him close and very dear
Through restless seas and times of cheer
As a maid might lightly call
Or siren cause a sailor’s fall,
The voice of beauty slowly grew
To guide him to a rendezvous.
Then on an
ocean with no name
There came a squall of endless rain
And seamen true unto their call
Struggled hard to save it all
But in that
tempest of the sea
All their efforts would not be
Enough to save their fated ship
On that last and forlorn trip.
The ship in
agonizing roll
Turned about and then in whole
Slipped under waves that crushed it’s hull
Then, as by magic, came the lull.
As if the
tempest will were done
And it’s purpose had been run,
The sea smoothed in lifeless fashion,
Finished in it’s ruthless passion.
The muffled
sound of surf on sand
Beckoned wakefulness demand
And salted water to his eyes
Blended with the sea bird cries.
The young man
of twenty five
Found, by luck, he had survived.
Though weak from heavens harsh torment
He thanked God with true lament.
Raising on one
elbow then
He strained to look for other men
But through the beaches’s long expanse,
None had won their fateful chance.
The sandy beach
was wide and white,
All and all, a tranquil sight.
A drastic change from nights before
That led him to this distant shore.
There seemed a
change came over him
A settling of soul within,
The completion of his aimless trip
Signaled by his loss of ship.
The next few
days he scouted through
The remnants of the ship and crew
That had washed upon that beach,
Things still not beyond his reach.
With coconuts
and those sea things
That the ocean daily brings,
It seemed life would still go on,
Even the faint siren’s song.
For dreams
again as in his youth
Told him there was still a truth
Beyond his conscious comprehension
That in his mind pursued attention
And so he set
about his way
To, as far as he may,
Explore this lost land of chance
And perhaps dreams of romance.
There seemed a
heading in his mind,
That of a very mystic kind
Which guided him forever on,
A lonely and a haunting song.
And to his
disbelief in such,
That melody he heard so much
Led him inexplicably
To a land that none might see.
Chapter 2
NONE
MIGHT SEE
On a mountain
of silver
in moonlight of gold
Stood a tower of diamonds
both breathless and bold.
On the wind from the mountain
a fragrance came near
Of cauldrons and candles
with sparkles that cheer.
Small eyes
seemed to glitter
as points in the night
That might to a specter
be a darlings delight.
A humming that bore
the likeness of rain
Deep in the tower
seemed to remain.
Through ebony
halls
as one might suppose
Were great wonders of art
the saints might have chose.
Exquisite lace curtains
with velvet of trim
And chantilly balls
with facets within.
And all the
while
this fabulous place
Emitted an aura
that one might trace
To something unseen
or someone undone,
Of beauty and patience
fraught by the sun.
In the silence
of all
a calling was heard
With the lows and highs
of a humming bird.
A light melody floated
so honey and sweet
While still he went foreword
the summons to meet.
On further
still
to follow the run
That truly might have
come from the sun.
To the back of the hall,
to the passage within,
Farther still, further on
till come to the end.
The pure sound
of water
falling in tune
Led to a starlit
circular room
And there, in the center,
a fountain was found
Where water, in tumbling,
fell to the ground.
And in the
center of this
a miraculous sight.
A creature so lovely
and tiny and bright
Stood on tiptoes
and did pirouettes
And sang a slight song
that none could forget
On the tip of
her toes
that arched in flight,
In the bejeweled glow
of that moon light
This lonely vision
with heart so pure
Beguiled his being
in manner demure.
With regret
Until I find my way.
Rescue me
This wistful
sight
To his delight
Paused in her sweet song
And cocked her head
And coyly said,
“Have you been here quite long?”
Stunned by her
casual observation
He stared at her with stark sensation
That crept into his soul that fateful day
And finally managed then to say,
“Oh sweet
spirit of the night,
Sweet loveliness of my sight,
How may I help you get away
From this place that you now stay?”
“Are you my
prince who’s come to say
“I’ll give my life for you this day
If freedom you would truly find
Of heart and soul and love divine?”
Unnerved by
this informal query
Of the seemingly sweet ferry
He hesitated in repose
And pondered well the words he chose.
“My name is
Laddy of the mountain
Who’s happened on your lovely fountain.
Perhaps this day and place so drawn
To see you and to hear your song.
Sweet mystery
of heart and mind
Lovely girl in dreams of mine,
I shall help you if I can
But would prefer a simple plan
That would not
cause this life of mine
To end in quite so short a time,
An easy plan to set you free
But also not to injure me.”
She smiled a
smile of coy delight
And twirled and twirled within his sight
Then slowed to an easy turn
And shyly winked her kind concern.
“Of course my
heart, my dearest friend,
I would not dream to cause your end.
After all, but for your kindness
I might parish, I confess.
How may I help
my love, my sweet
To free you from this lone retreat?
What secret might you now confide
To this, thy servant at your side?
The wizard, who
now keeps me here
To amuse and sometimes cheer
His spirit of deceit and harm,
Each night visits to my charm.
This to ease
his conscience sore
Of his evil deeds and more.
My song and dance relieve his pain
And halt his tendencies insane.
I am here by
his design
And truly, none of it is mine.
If you will help me to escape
My gratitude, I shall relate.
Beneath the
pillow to his head
Upon his inter-chamber bed
There lies a key that can undo
My prison if it’s used by you.
Fetch it from
the depths that be
To set this grateful being free.
Save my tortured soul I plead
From that evil tyrants greed.”
Staring at this
woman child,
Her smile and
beauty so beguiled,
He suffered
moments, one by one,
If he should
save her now or run.
“Oh please do
help to set me free,
Won’t you
please save helpless me
From this place
that holds my soul
Then once again
I shall be whole.
I will do that
which I can
But I beg you,
understand,
If this wizard,
as you say,
Has such great
power, day by day,
I am not sure
that I can do
That which must
be done for you
But your sweet
tears have touched my heart
That now I
could not bare to part
From a creature
of such grace
Without regret,
without a trace.”
Chapter 3
THE KEY
Stealthy
crouching on his way
That would-be hero on that day
Set out to find the wizard’s lair
And, to wit, to make things fair.
“Fetch it from
the depths that be.”
Were the very words that she
Did clue to find the wizard’s lair
And then to free his lady fair.
Down in steady
retrograde,
Down with steady progress made,
Down in air that smelled of rot
Down with all the nerve he’s got
Further still,
the light grew dim,
Further still, the knight within
Made his way so carefully
By inch, by foot and by degree.
Finally there,
a grated door,
Perhaps what he was looking for.
He grasped the iron bars in hand
And with a single gesture grand
The door gave
in with little strain
And opened wide to then remain.
cautiously he
edged foreword
And withdrew his stalwart sword
To guard against some sight unseen
That might creep within this scene.
A scratching
heard from all around,
Just the slightest strangest sound
To alarm a knight or surf
To startled tears or muffled mirth.
Awesome shadows
dimly lit,
Dancing in a struggled fit
Moved in ways unrecognized
And seemed to whirl and hypnotize
The scratching
eased to sounds of chains
Dragging some unknown remains
Across the stone and ancient floor,
Slowly dragging, then a roar.
A low rumbling,
straining roar,
The likes he had not heard before
And there with eyes of blazing fire
Stood a creature draped in ire.
It staunchly
stood inside the door
Tethered by iron chains of yore
That could not reach the entrance way
Where Laddy stood that very day.
Yet it blocked
the passage wide
For swayed the beast from side to side
In a most ferocious manner,
If without an active cantor.
The dragon,
though a thing of fright,
Appeared to struggle in the light.
It slowly moved in aged blight,
This awesome but quite feeble sight.
Laddy moved to
left then right
And slowly with bulk and might
the dragon shifted too and fro
While flaming eyes dimmed in glow.
Laddy then sang
and danced
And the creature, as entranced,
Could only move his head around
And weave a bit to Laddy’s sound.
Then with his
timing right
And the beast, a weary sight,
Laddy slipped past the sentry
Who, in confusion, allowed entry.
Further down
the hall it seemed.
The aura of a hollowed dream
Drifted over Laddy’s mind
And planted this enchanted line.
“He who further
seeks to find
The wizard of the castle Bine
May learn that curiosity
Can hold more danger than the sea.’
Laddy snapped
awake again,
Rubbed his eyes and then his chin
And drifted back again in haze,
His mind to dazzle in a maze.
This time in
her haunting tone
The woman child who danced alone
Whispered thoughts to him again,
“Your cause is right to reach within.’
Again he
snapped his eyes around
In response to silent sound.
A struggle now
formed within
His heart and mind then to win
Some control to keep him safe
From the wizard and the waif.
If in fact the
wizard, knew
About the waif and Laddy too,
There was no chance then for surprise
Or time to dawn some trick disguise.
Regardless of a
lack of plan,
Laddy had but one demand.
This waif who had stole his heart
With this sailor, would depart.
“I beseech you
now my sweet,
Do not for my sake retreat.
Find the key
To set me free
And serve the wizard his defeat.
“Be still this
voice in my head,
Be silent in your course of dread.”
Then stillness once again returned
And sounds within the passage spurned.
From further
down to journeys end
Came the sound of iron again.
A lighted door then swung wide,
It’s secrets certain to confide.
Chapter 4
THE CHAMBER
Laddy crept most skillfully
To see whatever he could see,
Closer to the open door,
Closer to the wizard’s core.
There within a
marble room,
As in a church, crypt or tomb
Were statues and gargoyle forms
With jeweled teeth and ivory horns
And treasures
of priceless worth
From all the corners of the earth
That sat before the sailor bold
Beckoning with jewels and gold.
And there a
pillow on the bed
Must be for the wizard’s head.
A Satan pillow trimmed with lace
Bore an ancient haunting grace.
With little
speed of movement lost
Or what might the danger cost,
Laddy stole across the floor
On his angel’s dangerous chore.
He pulled the
pillow from it’s place
And with anguished, scowling face
Saw no key
With which to free
The object of his revelry.
A voice from
the corner spoke
From behind a velvet choke,
“Did you really think that I
Would allow yourself, by and by,
To free this
creature of desire,
That brilliant light of human fire,
That waif, that spirit of the heart,
That seductive piece of female art?
“I“ Replied
Laddy, but then
The wizard’s voice broke in again.
“You have no
place here in my castle,
Be you Lord, serf or vassle.
Leave now I say, while you can,
Leave my gullible young man.
I shall not
leave without the girl
Who, to me, means all the world.
You should not have imprisoned her,
Of that fact I’m very sure.
Let her go away
with me,
Back across the siren sea
And you shall see us nevermore
Upon this evil, wicked shore.
It is true I
keep her here
But she is not as she appears.
I keep her prisoner, young man,
At the behest and the demand
Of the innocent
and weak
And the defenseless ‘and the meek.
I keep her here to defend
Those whose pledge I must attend.
She is my
spirit, she is my soul,
She is the life that makes me whole.
I shall not leave her to this plight
Prepare yea wizard, now to fight!”
And with that
the wizard spoke,
“Arise you visions of the smoke,
Up and show this boy beguiled
The truth of the spirit child.
With sleight
motions of his hands
The wizard changed his voiced commands
To infiltrate the young man’s mind
By and for his own design.
Smoke encircled
Laddy’s feet
And slowly rose, his head to meet.
He shut his eyes for acrid sting
Then Laddy heard his princess sing.
Her song though
meek in tone
Seemed a hollow pulsing drone,
Then her vision did transpire.
“She is the witch of Creepen Mire
Her eyes met
his with cold disdain
And for a moment did remain
Then softened to a girlish smile
As she seemed to summon guile.
“Now Laddy dear
Can you not hear
The love that’s in my heart?
Can you not see
That it is he
Who would keep us apart?
I am magic, It
is true,
But not of evil witches brew.
My magic is of love and peace
That prays and longs for it’s release.
Laddy reeled in
dizzy spire.
One or the other was a liar.
The wizard in his cloak of night
Or the waif of lively sight?
Laddy fell down
to his knees
And from that place beseeched the seas.
“May the spirits of the light
Aid me in my awful plight.
Send me a
solitary sign
To help me clear and know my mind.
Chapter 5
THE SIGN
The winds upon
the ocean cast
Before the three on oceans vast
For clouds and tempest did a dance
Beyond the winds of hope and chance.
Lightning
struck at castle spires
And circled them with bluish fires
That shown a ghostly, pulsing light
And caused the three in awesome fright
To cower in the
shadows born
Of the light of early morn,
To cover eyes with arms outstretched
As if the fates were theirs to catch
Laddy alone
faced the tempest
For all his life seemed a test
Then as a wish that had come true
There came a creature from the blue.
A small bird of
fragile wing
That flew around the room to sing
And flittered gaily to and fro
Without desire or thought to show.
The bird in
it’s fleeting rounds
Lighted on the wizard’s crown
And there displayed a tinny song
That didn’t last so very long.
The wizard
didn't move or speak
But allowed the bird to seek,
In a fashion quite it’s own
A pretty song in lilting tone.
Laddy watched
in stark surprise
As halted clouds in stormy skies
Seemed to pause for heavens sake,
A spell upon them all to make.
And now the
bird’s sweet song done,
It took flight again in fun
And found the window and flew out
Which left poor Laddy prone to shout,
“What is this
silly sign to mean
Sir wizard, Is this your scheme?
Wait Laddy for our feathered friend
Has not yet worked unto it’s end.”
Laddy and his
wizard host
Turned to see her vision boast,
“It was just a misplaced bird
Who had a song it wanted heard.
Do not believe
the girl’s last words
For Creepen Mire has no birds.
Watch her vision carefully
And we shall see, what we shall see.”
Into the vision
in her room
Shown the waif and very soon
Flew the small song bird of heart
To practice more, it’s songful art
Around the
woman-child it flew
On wings of gold and, silver blue
Chirping music all the while
A melody in cheerful style.
“Watch now.”
whispered the wizard,
“Watch the small but cheerful bird.”
The wizard and the boy then paused
And watched her for effect or cause.
The bird’s song
was awfully bright
As the child’s eyes followed flight.
Her lips curled and raised a bit
As she watched and followed it.
The beauty that
had been before
Now faded but shown something more
Around her sweet and lovely face
Shown a blue and ghastly trace.
The lines of a
shadowy mask
Bid laddy of the mountain ask,
“What being now before my eyes
Wares this horrible disguise?”
“Around the
creature’s head then flew
The small song bird of gold and blue
And all the while was traced in flight
By the creature’s lusting sight.
Then finally
the apparition
Could stand no more the bird’s ambition
And came to solid black and green,
An evil creature vile and mean.
Still tracing
the small bird in sight
It lunged and plucked it from flight
And crushed it’s bones down to it’s feet,
And grimaced at it’s gruesome treat.
Startled and
taken aback
Laddy could but accept the fact
That the sweet and lovely child
Who had held his heart beguiled
Was truly as
the wizard said,
A witch of the mire, instead.
But still he felt empty inside
And to the wizard did confide,
“A fiend
perhaps but through the years
Her laughter had eased my fears
And now her spell, spent and gone
By a small, sweet birdie’s song
Has broken my
own heart in two.
But to be fair, I must thank you
For you shall keep this creature near
And save us all from harm and fear.”
The wizard
bowed in his assent
And bid Laddy to not repent
For his heart was good and true
And now his life could start anew.
In her room
secure and tight
The witch of Creepen Mire that night
Sat hatching out another plan,
Another story, another land.
~Robert E.
Browne~
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