Evil Eye

Sir Leander kissed his fair lady a good morning.

But her eyes didn't open. She was still sleeping.

It's been weeks and the poor knight was morose.

Yet, his sadness suddenly became vengeful anger.

The flowers, the game, the hilarity and that duke!

If my love won't wake, then shall will you, m'lord.

And so, in the darkness of the night, blood spilled.

Sir Leander returned to his chamber and found

Berenice awake, but from another nightmare.

In her dream was a crone crying over a dead man.

She looked at me, said Berenice, and cursed.

Sir Leander, now driven with guilt and remorse,

Knew that crone was the duke's old consort,

Rumored to be a witch and indeed she was.

At dawn's break, the knight and his lady left,

And back to his father's manor they resided.

That summer bloomed with roses in the garden,

But their love for each other burned all of them.

Then one grey afternoon, Berenice was strolling

Through the courtyard until she heard a mewing.

It was a cat as black as ebony hiding in a shrub.

Berenice took care of the adorable little thing.

But Sir Leander wasn't so fond of her new pet.

He felt something malevolent from the cat's eyes,

Something luring his beloved away from him.

Then one night, after another loveless embrace,

Sir Leander took sips of rum by the fireplace,

Pining for Berenice and cursing that black cat.

To his surprise, he heard it mewing behind him.

Looking at its eyes, he felt he wanted to pat it.

Yet when he leaned down, it leaped to his face

And scratched his eyes until his blood spilled.

When the cat left him yelling in pain on the floor,

Sir Leander took his sword and went to chase it.

Though his vision was blurred with his blood,

He could see the black wicked thing in the halls.

He could see it descend down the damp cellars.

He could see it just standing in the shadows.

Then, he heard the sweet voice of his Berenice,

Telling him to stop and leave her dear pet be.

But in a passion, Sir Leander killed the black cat.