Mystery at Baddesley Clinton by Eira Needham

Nicholas returns early, gasps; 

the priest is stroking 

his wife’s chin - or perhaps 

he is about to choke her. 

Horror fuels rage, sword 

flashes in candle light.

Step over him now, buried in upright 

stance beneath St. Michael’s entrance.

As penance, he built the church steeple.

The library floor remains ensanguine

by the stone arched fireside, but

whose blood was daubed on the boards? 

Now, footsteps echo along 

panelled corridors that lead 

to the reading room.

Voices argue, startle; a priest 

takes mass in the shadows.

A woman in black drifts 

through walls. Ornaments change

places, door knobs turn  

- hands unseen.

Eira Needham is a retired teacher, living in Birmingham UK. Her poetry is eclectic and has been published in print and online. Some of her publications are in The Linnet’s Wings, Voices from the Web 2016 and Poetry Pacific. She has also been Featured Writer in WestWard Quarterly.

Egyptian Garden, Biddulph Grange by Eira Needham

Bluebirds extend their wings

to flank a jonquil sun

above the entrance.

Twin sphinxes guard this door,

amid neatly clipped yews.

We creep into the mastaba,

spooked by a twilit passage,
where it's difficult to focus.

In the ensanguine chamber ahead
a grotesque figure squats.

Ape, attendant to Thoth, 

bathed in blood light awaits -

sculpted in feathered cape 

with oblong buckle fastening. 

Long ears frame a hog like face.  

Nostrils flare; mouth grimaces.

Returning down the tunnel
we will rediscover brightness -
yet to the left there's a short-cut
up steep stone steps, that vanish
into darkness, offering a portal
to the unknown.

Eira Needham is a retired teacher, living in Birmingham UK. Her poetry is eclectic and has been published in print and online. Some of her publications are in The Linnet’s Wings, Voices from the Web 2016 and Poetry Pacific. She has also been Featured Writer in WestWard Quarterly.