Branches

The black misshapen branches
Bent forward to touch my head,
Then with their sharpened fingers
They carried me off towards the dead.

“You must pay me for your nightmares
Before I can take away your pain.
The payment is all that stands between you
And eternal shame.

The bodies are still bleeding
Their stories as yet cannot be told,
But I promised only to keep them
Until you were too old.

I have come to collect my payment.
I have been waiting since that first day
I’ll accept nothing but your soul
Or I’ll let the nightmares carry you away.”

The eerie branches closed around me
To form a prison cell.
Then I heard my nightmares calling
Amidst the echoing screams of hell.

© 2019, Daniel Kemp All rights reserved