Autumn Dusk / All Souls' Day 1400 AD by Sarah Das Gupta

Autumn Dusk

An empty house,
darkness floods
the ground floor.
Ghosts return to sleep
in the fading light
of an autumn evening.
Dead voices lurk
among the motes
floating in the last shaft
of sunlight.
Faint notes of a piano
caught in the moment,
to be played and replayed
in vacant, dusty rooms.

All Souls' Day 1400 AD

 

Spirits of the dead return,

Robin Goodfellow turns milk sour.

Hares, split-lipped, a source of fear.

Old hags with strange birth marks,

Burn in flames of cruellest red.

Toads, frogs and snakes bewitch,

Tombs open, the dead arise

Seeking revenge beyond the grave!

In stained glass men burn in hell.

The living seek a redemptive spell. 

 

 

 

Sarah Das Gupta lives near Cambridge, UK. She has also lived and worked in India. Her work has been published in 12 countries including US, UK, Canada, Australia, India, Germany, Croatia and Romania.