The Seduction

She raked through the hearth fire ashes,

And scattered the chicken bones,

Then turned a page in a silent rage

And added some pebble stones.

She searched for a spell to end in hell

For the man who had told her ‘No,’

A spell of hate from her hearth fire grate

To follow wherever he’d go.

While he stood out on the roadway

Considering where he’d been,

He’d fled out there from the witches lair

Where she’d lured him, sight unseen.

At first she seemed to be beautiful

When first he entered her lair,

But then his eyes grew wide in surprise,

Got used to the dark in there.

She’d sat on a velvet cushion

And raised her skirt to the knee,

He thought he saw what she wanted him for

As she smiled unpleasantly,

He turned in a mild confusion,

His women were never so bold,

He sat and stared, got out of his chair,

Said ‘Sorry, you’re just too old.’

He looked at the streets about him,

And noticed the cobblestones,

They crissed and crossed, he was more than lost

In a muddle of chicken bones.

He couldn’t figure which way to go,

As they’d twist and turn out there,

And every time he would cross the road

He’d end back at the witches lair.

His mouth was a pile of ashes,

His mind full of pebble stones,

He found himself at the same front door

Spitting out chicken bones.

He burst back into the witches lair

And he saw her crouched by the hearth,

She stared at him with an awful grin,

Let out a terrible laugh.

‘Have you come again to reject me,

To tell me I’m just too old?

You’ll never recover your other lover,’

She said, and his heart turned cold.

He snatched at her faded Grimoire,

And turned to another page,

Then read a spell from a demon of hell

That was said, would make her age.

He muttered the words of the ritual

And her face grew taut with fear,

Her hair turned grey at the words he’d say

At the spell she’d not want to hear.

Her skin grew slack, and fell from her bones

As it said in that ancient tome,

Then his head had cleared as she disappeared,

And he went wandering home.

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Ellen Hammond]

This is a nice quirky piece with irony. Very entertaining as your poems always are.

[Coyote Poetry]

A amazing story told in the poetry my friend.
‘Have you come again to reject me,
To tell me I’m just too old?
You’ll never recover your other lover,’
"She said, and his heart turned cold.
He snatched at her faded Grimoire,
And turned to another page,
Then read a spell from a demon of hell
That was said, would make her age."
I loved the above lines. So powerful and you left the reader with something to think about. Than you David for sharing the amazing poetry.
Coyote

[Tony Jordan]

I think I might have met this witch in a bar once - I kept leaving it then ending up back in it again !!
This is DLP at his best. Witty, brilliant wordsmithing - so entertaining.

[Barbz]

You are absolutely right. You are the Master of the Pen and deserve a word of appreciation for same. I, myself, have been guilty of late, dealing with medical problems, and apologize to you. Your poetry is a gift you share with all of us! Barbz

[David Lewis Paget]

I'm going to begin culling names from my friends list on WritersCafe, all those I never hear from, never see in reviews. If my work is good enough for you to read, it's only courtesy to leave a comment. Most of you don't. There's no such thing as a free meal, and it's not asking much to write a brief review in return for being entertained.