I Found a Creature Seeking Death / They Speak Through the Trees by Alba Sarria

I found a creature seeking death

Traversing the dim darkened wood there I came

upon a creature seeking death.

His back was arched as the blown over tree; 

spin broken, burst as a beam. And stooped 

over a bush of red berries His spindled fingers plucked,

and there I stood with my basket aflow with blackened berries

until his fingers plucked no more.

They Speak Through the Trees

In the summer

height of Green

They come muffled,

near-silent

rattling through 

the abandoned archaic garden’s trees.

You strain to hear 

the gnashing of teeth;

wispy wiry screams.

Nails knocking within

trees.

But when summer blows

into piles of Autumn’s crunching leaves,

and the trees they go to sleep,

you hear Them

the gnashing of teeth:

Peel the wood

Peep within

Chant in threes— call our names

Set us Free.

Stay away from the gnashing of teeth,

the slumbering trees,

the calls of peel peep chant speak,

the bark’s crack that seeps sap so sweet,

the raw fleshy shavings of wood

sprinkling 

down 

Decaying trees.

Alba Sarria is a poet and flash fictionist fascinated by all things eerie/disquieting meeting ancient folklore from all around the world. Alba is the 2018 CSPA Gold Circle Award winner for freeform poetry and an avid lover of orchids.