The Halloween Bus: Pardon Lemuel While He Screams!

Liz from Musings has given the Poetry Bus a Halloween prompt this week.

Why I Believe

By Lemuel Crouse

Like
A fool
I did not

Believe. Vampires?

They could not exist,

Said I.  But then one called
On me as I lay dreaming,

Unsuspecting, safe in my bed,

Or so I thought.  I ought to have screamed;

I could not even cry...just swoon and die.

Quiet, unsettling cold crept through my veins

As the fiend, sated, smiling, withdrew.

Swift he flew then, lest someone see

Him lingering o'er his prey.
I lost my soul that night.
Hollow, here I stand,
An empty shell,

Living hell,
Undead

Proof.

This Sunday (a day early), a haunting Magpie from LC

Little Julia

By Lemuel Crouse

Your day of birth

Falls close to mine,

And so I feel

The intertwining:

Children of a frosty morn

Are we, little Julia,

Though many earthly years

And all eternity

Separate us now.

Too fast you fell

From womb to grave,

No one to save you,

This we also share.

One last cold thing

 I need to say

Before I fly:

Julia, dear, you died...

So, too, did I.

This is a Magpie Tale.  To find out more and to read other Magpie Tales, click here!

This Sunday, LC Howls at the Moon

This week's Poetry Bus theme is "meetings, bloody meetings."  Poetry Bus, meet the dark and brooding poet Lemuel Crouse.  Somewhere early on in this process there was an idea of a chance meeting by the light of the moon...yeah, no, didn't work out so well.  Anyway, this is what you get.  Enjoy (or vote me off the island, er, bus ;-)!

Because I Must (Blood Moon)

A Sonnet

By Lemuel Crouse

Hard frost, All Hallows' Eve is drawing nigh;

And leaves, new-fallen, carpet shadowed ways.

The ink well night, my cloak from prying eyes--

Pray, would you now reveal me to their gaze?

I howl at you, my love, because I must;

The wolves howl with me, sensing I am kin.

Behind stout doors the mortals sleep--or rust--

Tight-locked, believing all is safe within.

Obsessed (repressed?), the younger ones go Goth,

As if your glow they first had entertained:

They first to know the primal hunter's wroth,

They first to revel in the wolf's refrain.

As doe-eyed Twilight fangirls squee and swoon,

My thoughts despair of all save you, Blood Moon.

The Poetry Bus is hosted this week by Argent, who gave us the wonderful prompt!  To read more (you won't be sorry!), click here.

Variation on a Theme: Birdbath Saturday!

 To bathe or not to bathe...

 Come on in, the water's fine!

 Cold! Cold! Cold!

 Wimp...

 I can't believe you talked me into that!

I feel...refreshed!

LC looks in the mirror

Now You See Me
By Lemuel Crouse

A simple trick, really:
Glass backed with shiny...
A finely polished
Bit of light magic.
Enigmatic plane,
Giving no thought
To the tragic act
Playing before it.

I am drowning in memory!
Fighting, sinking, dying,
Last time going under?
I wonder as blood
Thunders in my ears.
I would gladly shed tears
If I had any left.
I am bereft of them.

Confounding mirror
Showing no horror...
How can it NOT
See the monstrosity
That stands before it!
Infernal broken pane,
Silent within your frame,
Reflecting...nothing?


A Magpie Tale.  To read more about it, and to read this week's tales, click here!

LC's On the Bus with A Tale of Two Brothers Magpie

The Open Door

A Sonnet

By Lemuel Crouse

The day grew cold; the moon eclipsed the sun.
I took the Shawnee warrior's path toward home

Through shadowed lands where buffalo had run,

And restless spirits from the past still roam.

The whisp'ring waters sang of one who fought,

His name became a terror to his foes.

Tecumseh, valiant leader, bled for naught,

His dream had died, not so his children’s woes.

They sang of little brother, clumsy lad,

The Noisy Rattle, much too fond of drink.

His wife had watched him waste, her visage sad,

As long he lingered nigh unto life’s brink.

But from death’s bed the Open Door had ris'n,

The Tenskwatawa, prophet for a seas'n.

A Magpie Tale, inspired as always by Willow's prompt.
To participate in Magpie Tales, or to read other entries, just click the link!
Greetings to fellow Poetry Bus riders, as well!  The Bus is driven this week by NanU, who inspired us to get out of the rut.  I kinda, sorta did...I haven't been on the bus in awhile!  Check out the prompt and the other Bus passengers here!

The Week That Was

It all started on Sunday at the Renaissance Festival.

We had laughs with old friends Dirk and Guido,

Good music served with our dinner,

And we saw a not so impressive knight.

It was all in good fun...

Just ask the mud-splattered pirate!

I saw a balloon on the way home, to boot!

The work week began in a fog :-)

 Silos rose like castles in the mist,

 But then I witnessed a glorious sunrise!

 Stumpy Squirrel told me it was going to be a good week, if a bit nuts.

Smart squirrel, that Stumpy.

I visited Browne Hall, looking haunted in Autumn,

And each day brought sun streaming through the trees,

Making them blaze with light!

 These were gorgeous October days

 With spectacular sunsets!

The last of the corn stood tall, awaiting harvest.

I sensed that the season of flowers was almost at an end.

After a busy week, Saturday came at last,

 Highlighted by maples bursting with color!

It was a great day for a wagon ride,

Or for feeding goats...

Very spoiled goats

That know how to work a crowd!

There be pumpkins aplenty in these parts

And awesome ice cream!

We saw beautiful horses on a family farm,

And old barns still standing proud,

Waiting on the cows to come home.

Some of the sheep have been shorn,

While others are getting woollier...

If such a thing is possible!

They graze with enthusiasm, though the grass is parched,

Knowing very well that winter soon will come.



Sundays with LC: Autumn Magpie

Welcome, One Shot Wednesday readers!  I wrote this for Willow's Magpie Tales, and just had to share it with you:

Forever Autumn
by Lemuel Crouse

Lazy, drifting, spent
Metal hues
Gold
Bronze
Rust, not silver…
I would shiver
If I could
As autumn leaves
Descend upon
My newfound home.

Upward my eyes
Ever turn
Watching leaves
Settle on the surface
Gently coloring
My blank page
Belying the rage
That put me here...
A last bubble of air
Ripples the surface.

Will I rise
Come spring
When buds burst
Into bloom
And new leaves
Push outward
To shade me?
By then will anyone
Understand why
And how and who?

This is a Magpie Tale.

Yarney the Lambpire

A rare sighting of Yarney from last May:

Tis the season, hehehe...

If my reference is too obscure, and it probably is, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varney_the_Vampire

This Sunday with LC, Gratitude

This day gratitude

Flows forth from my heart to you

Brothers, sisters all.

(Pictures taken March 2010)

Wow!  Blogging can be an amazing experience. You just throw something out there because, really, you've got nuthin' to say, and it connects with people in ways you did not imagine, and then people connect back with you and remind you that life is good, and so worth the effort!

This is my world. I toss gently place the camera in the front seat of the car, and I stop (sometimes...sometimes I just slow down) to take pics of things I see as I drive back and forth to school. Sometimes school just sucks the life out of me, and on those days I head out into "sheep country," as I did on the way home Friday. Alack, my favorite flock is in the back pasture for the time being, so no new pics of them and their pet llama, but happily I have these from last March :-D

 



The sheep are relieved that we have cooler, slightly wetter weather now after a hot, dry summer. I will give them your regards.

 

 

With gratitude,

Dr. Linthead and Mr. Crouse