Ring Around the Roise
In the darkness children play
upon swings that
spring shadows in the starlight
slides that cascade moonlight
down into a sea of sand
Children rise from
shovel dug homes
moving the flowers aside
carefully brushing the RIP words
before going out to play
Time Plays dearly on the mother's mind
crystillizing their flood of tears
If only they knew of their
children's revelry
amidst the wraiths and ghosts
they would go to them
without a thought and try
in all hope to carry them home
not being able to grasp
the pragmatic truth
I hear the fantastic laughter
Smell the scent of death
hanging over them
Feel the trembling terror
seize me cold
See the creaking see-saw
go up and down
Ghastly smiles adorn the children's lips
Singing so sorrowfully
song upon song
we knew as children
Songs they can never forget
As the nighttime fades
quicker than it came
I still hear their shrill
voices singing
dawn breaks the sky
in thin strips
of winter sunlight
As children
crawl back to their homes
outcasted from the forbidden
world we live in
Never able to return
Mercy of God
they beg
Praise the Devil
they hide
I catch them chanting still