Here Comes the Groom

"The love that lasts the longest is the love that can never be." - S. Maugh.

 

I

 

Twelve perfect, sinister rings from the looming bell tower.

Midnight: I was prompt, impeccable, if slightly heathen.

Sitting in the back of the limitless hearse, in my top hat and tailcoat.

Black, black roses surrounding my masculine embodiment.

The Full Moon, shrouded in fog, is my judge, dominating the heavens

With a beaming grimace, revelling at my imminent arrival.

 

II

 

‘Congratulations, Master Adonis,’ rasped the corpse at the steering wheel.

‘How gracious of you, sir,’ I replied to the skeleton.

The wind took hold of the doors, and cracked them open.

In the distance: a harp playing a wistful melody.

She appeared, sitting under the plum tree, a giant of a woman,

Slender, dressed in a wedding gown, playing the harp with spindly fingers,

Her blood red hair flowing to the crypts beneath her.

 

III

 

After gallantly opening the doors, the wind took hold of my legs

And ripped me from the bed of dead roses, emphatically.

The Moon’s breath tenderly pushed me forward.

The stars were missing tonight, surely hiding from the

Sinful gathering happening in this house for God.

I had been released from my desolate closet in

My Father’s house, to be paraded in front of all.

 

IV

 

A screech: I turn. The bride was gone.

In her place, twelve perfect, sinister crows, shrieking.

The corpulent fog began to lift as an organ played the funeral march.

With each chord, I took my next step.

With each note, I took my next breath.

A regular beat of a drum begins, pound, pound, pound.

The wind pushes stronger, my breath quickens with the drum beat.

 

V

 

Ahead of me the church appears, the bell tower coming into view,

While the oppressive mist lifts itself from my surroundings.

An assembly of skeletons claw their way from the earth

And begin to surround me, taking the winds job in pushing me.

The flurry of cold air spirals around the small lanterns

Hanging from the leafless trees.

My Father: white, spectral, wax-like, approaches me.

 

 VI

 

‘Come on son,

What’s done is done.

Profane thou art,

Not pure of heart.

Now, the consequences thou must face,

Of your queer disgrace,

Follow, the gaiety shall begin,

Once thou hast redeemed thy sin.’

 

VII

 

My Father, a phantom, touches my shoulder,

Only for his haggard hand to brush through my body.

It caressed my heart, tickled, as he did when I was young,

The memories flooded back, I remember

When he used to carry me on his capacious shoulders,

Often used to carry much more than just me...

Now, physical contact with me was only to punish,

A man cannot touch a man, but, if he does?

He answers to God, and God punishes, fairly.

 

VIII

 

We enter the sombre church, filled to the brim however

With silent, spectral figures, similar to my Father.

Candles hovered above their heads, casting no shadows but one: mine.

Blood decorated the walls in a respectable fashion,

The aisle spattered with it too, along with more black roses.

Through the stained-glass window at the front

I can see the Moon again, this time licking its lips with blood-thirst.

 

IX

 

For a moment, time ceased.

That’s if time still existed.

At the altar, a man of utmost charm and class,

The most perfect jaw line I had ever seen, or kissed.

Ice blue eyes, cold to the general perceiver,

But to me, so cold they set fire to my desire.

His tailcoat outlined a body of a God,

His skin... pale.

His shadow... absent -

 

X

 

My transparent Father led me up the aisle

To the ever growing funeral march.

Heads that no longer existed turned and watched me with scorn and malice.

I turned; following me were twelve, perfect bridesmaids,

Dressed head to toe in black,

Red hair decorated with twelve, perfect black petals.

I reach my God; he smiles a smile that melts my existence.

I see the red-headed giant playing the organ,

She winks, smiles, and stops playing.

 

XI

 

And then it was the Moon that said:

‘Dost thou take thy Adonis to be thy lawful wedded husband?’

And my love said:

‘No... I cannot,

What has happened is full of sin,

And I wish not to be full of sin.’

I begin crying, I taste the tears on my lips,

Blood: I cry blood; twelve perfect blood tears reach my lips.

 

XII

 

The red-headed giant advances, smiling as ever.

She lifts my body with her branches,

Turns on her heels and approaches a black coffin.

‘A funeral shall commence, sinful one,

A cremation shall follow, queer one,

Thou must not worry,

For in the afterlife,

Be it in heaven or hell,

Though it’s hell you’re destined for,

The blood thirsty Moon shall look after you.’

Gently, I’m placed into the coffin, full to the brim

With black rose petals.

‘Now, as a warning to you all,

This coffin will be dropped into the fires of hell,

So now, it is time we bid our farewell.’

And then twelve, perfect rings of the bell,

My bell of atonement.

 

Reviews

[EMP]

this is so dark and powerful. I really enjoyed reading this, your words are so amazing and... i can't find any words to describe it, it's brilliant, so sinister, marrying into darkness is not something you'd think of but now I will, this poem has words so effective, brillian, well done.

[Marie Anzalone]

I think the other fair reviewers may have missed the mark on this one. Dark, sinister, and liberating, I hope, to reveal these nightmares about identity and orientation. I can only hope you will find a place they do not follow you; where you can be what God created you to be without fear of retribution. No, you don't want Adonis; you want a faithful, devoted love, just like everyone else. I stand in awe of your determination. A dark fearful closet is and never was any place to live.

[cest la vie]

Dark, gripping and written so well.
this is a wonderful tale you have spun here. To be wedded to death, what a concept.
Once more, your excellent writing skills shine through(even this darkness)..

[Craig Froman]

Gripping, dark, and moving, your words evoke such a profound feeling of fear... Like a sinister song, you've painted a wedded funeral with the deepest hues and somber colors. Powerful!