The Depth or The Shape
by Gary William Crawford
He saw the darkness,
but no one knew
the depth or the shape of it.
They couldn't feel
the terrifying ceremonies
that marked him as a sacrifice.
The wizard who led them
only laughed at his fear.
He mocked his subject,
danced like a fool,
knowing that his victim
could die of the horror.
Thinking himself free,
he phoned a number
in another dimension.
They found him dead
in his attic room
with a telephone
pressed to his ear,
the cord like a noose
around his neck.
© 2004 Gary William Crawford
Gary Crawford is the author of two books of poetry, Poems
of the Divided Self and In Shadow Lands,
and the short story collection Gothic Fevers. I
have published works of literary scholarship and criticism, such as Ramsey
Campbell, J. Sheridan Le Fanu: A Bio-Bibliography, and Robert
Aickman: An Introduction. He is also the founder and editor
of Gothic Press (http://www.gothicpress.com/.)
Find more by Gary William Crawford in the Author Index.
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