Haunted House Poem by Emmanuel George Cefai

i.

into the haunted
house
before the first dusk
in the heavens
lit
they went inside.

ii.

creaked the old doors
and
as they passed
they cut the cobwebs
that for centuries
hung
how musty the smell
of every room
the whole house rang
as a whole sordid tomb.

iii.

came dusk and red
then redder glared
and redder
its cheeks blared
till
in the dark
outside
all buried was in night
and dim
lit by star-light

iv.

now
when the moon climbed
over the clouds defeating
them
then light more white
shone dim yet more
in that house

v.

with them lights and lamps
and torches brought
and
every corner they
espied more and more
cobwebs in the way

vi.

no sound no sights
in that house
they wandered why
it haunted was
and how:
for nothing haunted
had they seen all time

vii.

so stayed they
whiling impatient hour
after impatient hour
passed:
the old clock
midnight struck;
of sudden a sharp
wind arose
around the staircase
and in the rooms around
it shed its chilly hand
without a sound

viii.

looked they white at
each other’s face
of white:
they felt
the floors below move
yet they saw no
cracks
in floors or roofs
yet felt and feared.

ix.

till
one shouted: ‘Look! ’
He pointed – and
A pair of blood stained
Hands
Was moving slowly near
Alone as cut:
With scream they rushed
Out of that house

x.

once out they breathed
relief in the night air
though chilly was:
and
as they closed the door
inside
they heard laughs horrid,
screams thin and taut,
creaks and language foul.

xi.

closed the door
sped they together
holding:
and then soon
in the welcome home
and welcome bed
refuge and safety sought
till Dawn yet again
announced another day.