Kissing the Corpse Goodbye

The mad magician never leaves
He is the breath in my lungs
The taste on my tongue
He is my skin and my within
Everywhere I've been
Everything I've seen
He has crafted me in his furnace

The sickness churns my stomach
Like razor blades
He knows of my weakness and
I cannot break free of his spell
When the cold winds blow
I know this fear more than most
I am even sought out by mortals
Who bled my skin
There is no sanctuary in hell

I sought out a safer place to hide my soul
Where no one goes but ancient gypsies
Not even the Magician of the dark arts
And great sin can find me here
There is a forest where no fire burns
The sun is not too bright
The branches are long and wide that hide the sky
It's thorns can tear anyone from limb to limb
Setting wicked traps

This is the Black Forest
That can entrap and ensnare
Some have fallen into sand and cannot breathe the air
The demon's chorus can be heard here
I am the keeper of others' fate
I am shaking the devil off
Here I am omnipotent. Magic girl
I whirl and spin - shake shake shake

When my methods become tried and tested
I turn to the loving gypsy folk
Vanquishing all my foes with toothless grins
And chocolate eyes, holes on their soles
They wander but do the impossible if you trust

My spirit is at rest in the Black Forest
Following the stars, the fortunes
My altered circumstance

I met a gypsy woman while dancing
Under the light of the moon
Who spoke old wisdom
To snare a husband
I ask her crystal ball eyes about my past
She just questions my future
It no longer looks scary

I can finally whisper home on the open road
I have lined my pockets with fairy dust
Just in case
Superstitions keep the long, dark shadows at bay
The closet skeletons that kissed me have died today
Now Babylon may pray
I found the Keys to St. Peter
It's just another day

Alexis Child hails from Toronto, Canada; home to dreams and nightmares. She worked at a Call Crisis Center befriending demons of the mind that roam freely amongst her writings. Alexis once lived with a Calico-cat child sleuthing all that went bump in the night and is haunted by the memory of her cat. She had a small measure of underground success with her gothic rock and darkwave bands in the past. Besides having rare mystical experiences she hopes are not just short circuits in the brain, she writes dark poetry, starving in the garret with her muse. A starving child is a frightful sight. A starving vampire is even worse. Please donate non-perishable food items and B-negative blood (and make it a double!).

Alexis’ fiction has been featured in Danse Macabre, Schlock, Screams of Terror, and U.K.'s Dark of Night Magazine. Her poetry has been featured in numerous online and print publications, including Aphelion, Black Petals, Blood Moon Rising Magazine, Grotesque, The Horror Zine, The Sirens Call and elsewhere.

Her first collection of poetry, Devil in the Clock, a dark and sinister slice of the macabre is available on Amazon. Alexis' second collection of poetry, Singing the Bones, is now available on Amazon and from Cyberwit Publishing.

Visit her website: http://www.angelfire.com/poetry/alexischild/ and her YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg6S5u4yX73kA1ZWGnKaEBA/videos

Find more by Alexis Child in the Author Index.

Comment on this story in the Aphelion Forum

Return to Aphelion's Index page.