THE WITCH OF THE DARK TIDE

A story poem in 10 parts about love and heartbreak, and the journey from childhood innocence to experience through a dreadful confrontation.

THE WITCH OF THE DARK TIDE

Chapters:

Dark Tide, the place we fear…..

The Children of Dreamland…..

The Witch of the Dark Tide…..

Journey into the Dark…..

The Witch Awakes…..

Home to Dreamland…..

The Witch’s Feast…..

Search for the Lost…..

Killing The Witch of the Dark Tide…..

Dark Tide and Dreamland…..

 

THE POEMS

THE WITCH OF THE DARK TIDE

 

Dark Tide, the place we fear…..

In a forest deep

Black as soot

And dead as sleep

There is a place where broken hearts and lost hope goes

It is called Dark Tide.

It is not a place you would choose to go

If you had a choice, you would not go

In it lives, but barely lives,

A funeral parade of souls

All marching with downcast face

Trudging through the eternal waste

Pulling their feet up slowly like from their graves

Reborn to misery every day

There is no heart in what they do

Their hearts are gone, stolen, broken, icy blue

If your heart was crushed too many times

Then you might find the Dark Tide too

In Dark Tide there is something that lies waiting

With thoughts so sinister

Death anticipating.

Haunting there, The Queen of the Realm

The first to fall into that hell

Her soul gone black, her heart a shell,

Her face wrinkled from 100 lifetimes

The wretched Witch of the Dark Tide.

In every generation gone by,

She has robbed young lives that have stepped too close to her lair

She has bound them, and bet them, and eaten well,

And taken them from light never to be seen again.

From innocent Dreamland now they come

She stirs in her tomb but her sense is still numb

Not awake until she can scent

The sweat of young blood wandering dumb

Stirring stirring more and more

They’re getting closer, almost to her door.

They will scream when she will arise

And there will be some who wont survive.

 

 

The Children of Dreamland…..

Dreamland was in the brightest part of the forest

Where the sun warmed the hearts of all

The food came aplenty as if from the sky

And it was never questioned how or why

In Dreamland lived children

Innocent and loving

Dancing and singing

Ever-high and hugging.

They were told of this place where the blood runs cold

And all the people act wretched and old

But seeing is believing they always say

And the children had seen nothing but Dreamland May.

One among them stood out from the crush

Michael was a fair boy who loved too much

This often gave the appearance of being down in the dumps

Alone he ran and held no hand

Being the unhappiest boy in this dreamland

He was not popular because of his ways

Misunderstood and misbehaved

Why he was so sad, he would not tell

His breaths were deep and long

The belly of him eaten away as though punched eternally

His eyes shed tears enough for the deepest well

And they told his story when words were lack

He loved someone who didn’t love him back

There were many children who loved Dreamland

And would never dream of wandering out

Into the darkness of the hidden world

The forbidden city of trees and Her

But curiosity gets the best of us

And wander some, wander all we must

Into the forest where our parents warned

Of terrible dangers and a beast hell-born

But we wouldn’t grow if we didn’t search

And we would go blind if we didn’t look

And if there is a Witch out there beyond

We’ll fight her with our love and youth and songs

Sarah and Edel took the lead

For dark desires in them were strong

Best of friends forever and a day

They skipped out into the trees fearing nothing and gay

Marcella followed in her own way

Carrying cake and biscuits and a sweet array

Then followed Neill, and Jay, and Jodie

And all the children of Dreamland seemingly

Even Michael came, straggling last

Pretending not to be part of the wandering cast

And soon Dreamland was empty

For there were no parents

Dreamlands a place for the innocent heart

Innocent hearts that were gone this day

Looking forward to an adventure far away.

 

 

The Witch of The Dark Tide…..

What made the creature of this Dark Tide?

And why kill or maim or try?

Well many years and generations past,

a girl from Dreamland lived so sad

Like Michael now she pined and bled

For someone she loved who’d rather she were dead

A million times she ran to him

And said I love you

But the world even in Dreamland can be cruel

And he looked down on her as if on a fool

She took her heart in her hands and went in despair

To every boy with golden hair

She said take this heart

I ask, implore,

I cant live with it no more.

But even in her worst despair

She could not find someone who cared

They laughed and told her make a grave

And put your worthless heart away.

The Dreamland girl turned slowly from those

Who would not listen and would not love

The sun that shone all day in that place

Moved its axis so it missed her face

In darkness now, she felt the cold

And because she could not show her face

She ran to keep warm far away

Into the trees until she gasped

Her lungs burning, gave out, and she fell down

She looked around her and could not believe

It was the darkest place she’d ever seen

The trees slanted down as if dying

And a river ran thick as if filled with mud and blood

Her first thought was to gather her strength

And head back home and try again

But there was love’s hateful eye

For everything Dreamland was in her mind

She said no, this is my home,

Underneath dying trees and by this Dark Tide.

She gave up her soul that very day

And buried her heart like they said

She locked away all hope and love

And said, by God, let those children come

I’d kill and eat them one and all

And crush their bones into a ball

Let them come, yes, let them come

I’ll live forever.. eternal enemy of the sun.

So The Witch of the Dark Tide was born

No, not of hell, but love scorned

But hell could have given no greater foe

To a child in the forest who does not know

The dangers of love and the pain of woe

And as the child wanders towards the dying trees

And accidentally wakes love’s disease

Innocence will flow from his veins

As if from a wound slashed open in the rain.

The Beast is waking and she cries

"You came to my house, you cannot hide

I will tear the flesh from your side

I will show you hell before you die

I am The Witch of the Dark Tide."

 

 

Journey into the Dark…..

The children rested in the forest,

They had not come far, but were tired regardless

Marcella shared out her sweets

Sarah sat and blew on her feet

Edel lay back and felt the breeze

Jodie went and climbed a tree

And Jay played guessing games with Neill

Michael for once smiled happily.

There were others I should tell

Vicky with ruby hair and emerald eyes

Darragh with his mouth of constant surprise

Jade with her songs and book of rhymes

Peter with the look of a dying light

All now rested and ready to go

Off to where they do not know.

But deep into the forest they went

Led by Vicky, Sarah, and Edel.

Soon they were in a place so dark

The trees seemed like shadows

And the leaves like dark spotted birds

The place truly was the opposite of everything they knew

The wind howled like a scream of pain

Beneath the dark curtain of the canopies

And the sky could not be seen

The air too grim to breathe

Marcella walked to where she heard

A watery sound chugging down

And came to that sludging mass

That seemed to bubble up from underground

Rather than move down through the bladed grass

Marcella reached down into the sludge

And drew her hand away quickly covered in blood

Vicky screamed and covered her face

Hoping to dispel the vision of this horrible place.

Jodie spoke of a tale she once heard

About a woman who lived so sad

Sitting astride the highest mountaintop

She ran her blood out every night

And made a river from her side

She couldn’t face the world of lies

But had to prove she was still alive

As long as the river flowed red at night

That would be her beacon light.

Sarah was curious and wanted to know

Why a girl would make her home

Upon a mountain so high, alone

No-one could answer

Their silence spoke wonders

For the innocent hearts whom this dark way had wandered.

Who would follow the river up?

And bathe in the lone girls crying blood

Only a prince or a madman’s love.

Should they move on or should they stay now?

With the day growing blacker than this black place.

By the Dark Flowing River

That seemed to move at a crawl

They looked each other up and down

And waited for one to speak and decide for all.

Michael spoke and said we stay

Here beneath the trees that say

Rest in my house and I will shelter you

And let the Dark Tide balance and guide you.

So they made their beds and snuggled tight

And hoped to be safe til morning light.

For they did not know what was lurking there

With claws of doom, that fountain of despair.

 

 

The Witch Awakes…...

There was a frost to be seen in blue morning light

But the children still had their eyes shut tight.

Jay and Jodie’s noses twitched as they slept close enough to kiss

Marcella and Neill’s arms wrapped warm

Bodies pulled close like Siamese born.

Edel slept curled as if in a womb

Michael’s arms crossed as if in a tomb

Darragh and Sarah and Vicky

Slept higgledy-piggledy

As if in a bundle.

The others slept as best they could

All hidden from view in their coats and hoods.

But suddenly stirring, a waking hand

About to crash and shake the land.

It came in whispers first of all

Michael dreamed he dreamt that quiet call

But it could be heard around that place

Listen now to the voice but see no face

"into the torment, into the flames,

I take your lives and I take your names"

Was it in the wind or spoken by the trees?

The children’s eyes were open, was this real?

They held even tighter than when they slept

Afraid to even take a breath.

They listened for that call again

And thanked their stars they had their friends.

It howled in from the sky

There was no sun, just an evil red eye

The voice, the voice,

So sharp and clear

Hope against hope the face it has does not appear

"into the torment, into the flames,

I take your lives and I take your names"

The Witch roars

all the children among the trees cower beneath their own breath and fears..

she is awake, she is coming now.

and her passion fuels the fires that grow

and hate is she from head to toe.

her eyes roll in her head with pain and fury.

As she storms her way to her innocent enemies.

They make no sound and pray for mercy,

And for Dreamland beds and games and parties.

but she senses them in the air.

every movement shakes her dry bones.

her wicked divining finger..

she is the devils huntress..

birding.. poaching..

seeking young bloody hearts in her labyrinthine wood..

there is no place to hide..

she is here.

The children scatter and run in terror.

Brother forgets sister and sister forgets brother.

But there is no escape because this is home

To evil incarnate, hope dethroned.

How do you defeat a fountain of despair?

They are cruel and they don’t care.

Jodie was first to be caught by the Witch

She fell hard and sunk into a ditch.

The Witch climbed down and dragged her out

Wiped the blood from her hands and mud from her mouth

The Witch asked "why do you come to this place?

Is Dreamland not yours? Have you all gone insane?"

But Jodie could not answer for fear

She looked at the face that was so old like a mirror.

All she felt was a deadly hum

And threw herself down dead so she wouldn’t become

Like the face of The Witch that was a mirror to her

The future of the broken, the end of the world.

The Witch laughed and it shook the trees

And every child choked and fell to their knees.

The Witch went around them one by one

And whispered despair in each ear like a gun

Some fainted away there on the spot

Because they believed every word and it tied them in knots

Their love was not strong enough to fight the Witch

Their dreams unraveled at the first pull like a stitch.

Happy with her day, The Witch went away

The children crawled to where light seemed to break

Downcast faces they didn’t speak

So not to relive the horror of being so weak

On out of Dark Tide they left with groans

Not looking back to The Witch’s home.

On through the forest with legs giving out

Not counting the cost of their awful rout.

Once back in Dreamland they seemed to say

That’s where we’ll be ourselves again.

 

 

Home to Dreamland…..

The forest paths on which the children had they played

Were deep in mud from an endless rain

They took deep breaths and made their sorry way

To where the trees were young and straight.

There was no telling what was on their minds

But you can tell a soul from their eyes

Devastation at what they had faced

The real world’s nature, a bitter hate,

Was this what they would become?

An evil creature bereft of love

Living out a hollowed hell

Killing all, without hope or sun

Suddenly the silence grew too much

Someone must speak to snatch life from dust

Vicky turned to her best friend

Looked in the eyes of Michael and said

How many were we before we came?

How many now leave in shame?

Michael who had not looked before

To see who had fallen at the Witch’s door

Turned and counted those they’d lost.

6 we are now, many more were gone,

but as they tried to remember them all

a terrible blankness came over each face

and memory failed to remember a name.

Who did we once play with so gay?

Before they were all taken away

By the real world’s empty pitiful shame.

But there was not a trace left of them

Not even a name.

Their souls had passed and left no remains.

It was night before they saw Dreamland ahead,

Their shelter from the world and their safe beds.

The ragged bunch quickened their step.

But just inside Dreamland Michael stopped

And looked up in awe

A vision so new that shook him to the core.

Everyone stood stock still and looked above.

They were astonished at the sight they saw

A thousand stars, maybe more

And not one had seen a star before.

In every soul, as though they were one

A feeling of want and pain had begun.

Dreamland is not the thing it was,

The Shining Stars had given pause.

A dark haunting desire arose.

To be a million miles from here,

Across galaxies, the universe,

Beauty so clear.

Longing to float to the stars above

And feeling nothing but eternal love.

A wistfulness swept away the warmth that remained in the day

A sad nostalgia for a once perfect place.

And as shivers set in, they went home

And remembered things the Witch had croaked

Marcella was told her dreams were nothing

And that more is gained by living in reality

But her dreams were stronger

Than one hard voice crushing down.

Vicky was told she would never be truly loved

And all those that declare love were playing dirty games.

But true love in Vicky was strong

And she felt love in herself enough.

Michael was teased about the girls he loved.

Have you ever had a girl love you back?

You can live 10 lifetimes and it will never happen

You’re just like me when I had the killing hope

Set yourself free from that hope you’re trapped in.

And bury the cage here with me.

Michael looked deep into the Witch's Eye

To look for the girl she said was him

But there was not a trace of girl left in her

Michael breathed deep,

and swallowed his hope down where she couldn’t find it.

The children of Dreamland slept

And maybe beautiful things will return in dreams.

 

 

The Witch’s Feast…..

There is a song for every celebration,

And The Witch of Dark Tide had many.

In the open she swayed to the gentle movement of the night breeze

And sang quietly under her dying trees.

"Love is the greatest sickness of all,

it tears you down from your throne

and it makes you small.

Love is a disease to kill us all,

It rapes you and hates you

And it makes your flesh crawl"

After the song had echoed away in the winds

The Witch walked to her feasting table

She took the scent of her feast,

And bowed down to taste the reward of her murderous feats.

She picked up the body of one of her victims

A child no more, just a wracked remain.

She cracked the carcass over her cup

And when it was blood-full, drank every drop.

She ripped at the bones with her gnarled teeth,

Devouring with bloody relish all the meat.

But as horrible as this was to see

A far worse sight was within 10 feet

By the Dark Tide, placed round a tree,

The Children’s heads sat peacefully.

There was Edel, and Darragh, and little Jodie.

The World of Beauty they’d feel no more,

Nor give their hearts up in love.

The Witch looked over as she ate their bones,

And laughed so loud, it shook the World.

Even in Dreamland, they felt the thunder.

Stirring in their beds and curling tighter.

Gorged with blood, The Witch danced manically

Tearing at the trees and stamping holes into the ground

She juggled with the children’s heads

And dived into her Dark flowing river.

Bathed in blood inside and out

She screamed to the sky and it shot lightning back.

She crawled to the bank and lay there in bliss

And never dreamt what it would be like to kiss

Someone she loved right there.

The Wretched Witch was truly a creature of utter despair.

She chanted another rhyme

"Bring those children back to me

I’ll convince them this world’s not worth fighting for

Bring those innocent loves and dreams back to me

I’ll kill their every hope and drown belief

I have not failed because some survive

All will be my slaves, just give me time

They’ll work for me

in deathly eternity"

I remember when I carried my heart so desperately

To everybody I loved, they threw it back at me.

That day I vowed that love did not exist

And any hope of love was a tortured kiss.

And I set myself the task

of freeing the poor young hearts

from their delusion and the dream

that what they feel inside could ever be real.

So my love is reality

Because I free you all from the pain of love’s insane dream.

Listen not to anyone

For I am the mother that truly comforts you

I am the sun.

The Witch fell into a deep gorged sleep

And slipped down into the Dark Tide.

She would be back when she heard the children of Dreamland’s cries.

 

 

Search for the Lost…..

Vicky stood firm in front of Michael and Sarah

And made her case for a return to horror.

"Did you see one of us die?

You did not and nor did I.

We must go back if they’re still alive

And save them from the evil eye.

You must come with me

No time to waste

It will prove our love

To enter that dreadful place.

That Witch out there thinks she has won

And will fall stone dead when an army comes."

Neill spoke to the upset children.

"We can’t go back, she’s too strong now.

A whisper from her and we cannot move

A flick of her finger and our heads we lose."

Marcella said quietly "we have no choice

Dreamland has lost it’s airy voice

There’s but one chance to redeem what’s lost

It’s to fight the witch no matter the cost."

Jay said "I’m missing a part of me,

And Marcella’s right,

Dreamland’s not what it used to be.

Something was stolen from deep within us,

Something I can’t place,

But I feel a loss.

A picture of someone in the back of my mind,

My twin, my angel, with a love so kind.

Last night I dreamt she sang to me

From deep in the forest, a lament so real.

If there’s the slightest chance she’s still alive

I must go back to the Dark Tide."

In a circle they placed their hands

And made a vow as the army of Dreamland

With love screaming in their hearts

They would go back to Dark Tide

And tear that hateful Witch apart.

They strode purposefully into the deep woods once more,

Their belief as hammers to knock on the Witch’s door,

6 of them there were.

Michael held Vicky

Marcella pushed Neill

Sarah and Jay held hands all the way.

The forest quickly grew darker

And it was still midday

Cast in an ash-fallen grey

This place seemed to say

You’re uninvited except to make your grave.

Doubts grew like weeds out of the ground and into the children’s hearts

"Why didn’t we fight yesterday.. if there was a way?"

"The Witch has the magic of so many years.

What can we do if we don’t know anything of the world.. and she has lived so long?"

"The Witch is invincible. She has her world. We have ours. Let’s go back."

The children stopped and wondered if this was a futile attack.

Marcella remembered the words of her father

He had once said to her

"We have the bombs to annihilate the world

And we’re not even scared anymore."

She never knew what it meant til then

To feel a pain so great it overwhelmed the fear

Death and nothing better than no love here.

Love was what had to be saved

And it was held captive in Dark Tide’s grave.

A light blazed bright across the sky,

And memories stirred in the children’s minds

Jay saw his twin Jodie singing her song

Michael remembered falling from a tree with Darragh

And Sarah remembered burying Edel in a mountain of flowers.

They were all a part of each other

And nothing would ever break that bond

Not life or death or what’s beyond

Dark Tide waits for a true love song.

They went on and heard the now familiar sound

The sludging river of blood

Slowly bleeding from the mountainside like a fatal wound.

They stood beneath the half-fallen trees

And waited for their foe to appear

This she did with a howl and scream

The children fell and covered their ears

She emerged from the river looking more horrific than heartbroken tears.

She strode with power and snarled at the pathetic weakling children

"Returning here to me is insane

and there’s only one explanation for insanity

love’s to blame"

The Witch seemed 10 times as powerful as she was

Gorged, well-fed, with colossal strength.

She picked the children up with one long grizzly finger each

And threw them up into the highest branches of her trees

"There you’ll wait until tomorrow

then I will come for you and give you such sorrow

you’ll want to die and join my horror"

The Witch roared into the trees

the most deafening sound any World had heard

And burst the ear drums of every child and bird

She disappeared and left the children

In a new world of silent dread.

They could not see each other,

and could not make their way down,

so they were shut in themselves with only their own thoughts

Each to his own dark night of the soul.

 

 

Killing The Witch of The Dark Tide…..

The Witch did not return til the next morning

The children had not slept a wink

But they saw the far-off sun rising

From their branches high, and crying,

Looked in the direction of Dreamland

But it seemed further away than the sun.

The witch stirred a pot and set a table

Just like in all the made-up fables

She smiled up at her meal

She’d pick her food from the trees.

As the pot began to bubble

The Witch picked down her first child.

She clicked her fingers and sound returned

To every child in her Dark Tide world.

The Witch looked deep in Jay’s eyes,

And said "what do you see when you dream out your life?"

Jay thought hard and had only one dream

"I want to run and play with my Jodie"

"She is with me now", said the Witch

"and she’s happier over here than she ever could be in Dreamland.

Why don’t you come and see for yourself,

or you’ll never ever see her again."

"But I thought she was dead.

I heard her singing that the Witch would kill her."

"I wouldn’t harm a hair on her head.

Her head is safe in my house by my bed"

Jay had nothing without his twin Jodie,

And nothing would keep him alive this morning.

Vicky was taken down next

And many arguments were made back and forth

Vicky wanted to show the whole world her love

But the Witch told stories of the world

That a child should never hear.

And as soon as Vicky’s faith slipped just that little bit

That was enough to be killed by so powerful a Witch.

There seemed no hope left in the world

Soon all the innocents would be gone

Sarah and Neill just faded away

With not a fight or a word to say.

Marcella was different, she argued and raged

And stabbed with her all at ridiculous hate

But when the Witch spots a weakness,

She doesn’t wait.

And when asked "What good could become of love

If you were the only one left in the world?"

Marcella fell quiet and cried

And gave up her life to the merciless Dark Tide.

The Witch sitting pleased with herself

Decided to feast on the children she had destroyed

Fully aware that there was one

Still in the trees, watching her fun

As she crunched on a bone, she spoke

"Michael, you’re just like me

Love has brought you to your knees

It’s time to give up what cannot be

The Dark Tide is all we’ll ever please"

Michael held tight against the tree

And a tear fell down at the Witch’s feet

Like a first drop of rain in a thunderstorm

You hold your breath and wait for more.

But nothing more fell of tears.

And with a crash the only thing that came down

Was Michael’s body to the ground.

The Witch jumped with fright

And looked amazed at the sight

Michael did not die.

The curious Witch came to him.

"Leave the killing to me if you please"

But Michael laughed quietly and rose from his knees.

The Witch said with a strange kind of glee,

"Do you think you’re stronger than me,

I have seen things that you couldn’t dream"

Michael spoke as if not a child anymore

"I could dream things and make them all real.

You cannot kill me because I am those dreams"

What Michael said rattled her bones,

But the Witch was ready to trawl him through woes

"What if your dreams are so strong they make

Everyone hate you for the passion they wake?"

Michael was happy and said,

"Passion I have and passion I owe,

but my wild heart sings with a gentle soul.

If everyone sleeps, they’ll never be free,

Because dreaming in sleep is not living your dreams"

The Witch knew she’d met a true enemy

and in him saw love that she truly could feel

she saw her girlhood that withered away

in the eyes of one who loved so complete

she even felt danger for this full heart

for a heart that is full has a bloodier death.

Michael noticed a change in the Witch

Just a slight glimpse, a flash you could miss,

The eyes that were so cold and stared

Now showed a longing for something not there.

For that brief second the Witch's power was gone

And Michael reached down for a weapon and then

He thrust what he found into her heart

Her heart that appeared to be torn apart

The Witch howled and called for the sky to open

Blood rained down and soon she was floating

Out into the Dark Tide,

Her lifetimes done

Her wicked heart severed by a child’s leg bone.

 

 

Dark Tide and Dreamland…..

The blood rain fell for many days

And every tree in Dark Tide was washed away

Every object the witch had owned

Was taken away in that bloody storm

Michael mourned all the children in silence

And wondered if his love was now just worthless

Maybe it was better to go with the Witch

Be with his friends and try not to b***h

About all the dreams that he gave away

And the burning love that was really just pain.

When the rain had stopped, he got to his feet

And turned in the direction of the Land of Dreams

He thought long and hard about what he’d find there

And if he was alone, did he have a prayer?

He set off for Dreamland because it was home

And because it held dreams, not set in stone,

The walk was more beautiful than he could have imagined

The sun making colours the like of Heaven.

Every breath drew new tears

As he gazed in wonder

At every inch of glorious nature.

Heart dying a little that no-one shared this

And all of this beauty was just his.

But Dreamland appeared as if from a haze

More golden, more stunning, and he fell amazed.

And what was this vision tending some flowers

A girl in flowing yellow, smiling and proud.

She turned slowly and saw her prince at the gate

And ran and jumped on him with all her weight

They kissed for a second, no need for dreams

love’s fated arms fills the world with screams.

What was the name of this girl who grew

almost like a flower out of the blue?

See in her eyes all the world’s love

And a 100 lifetimes of pain gone to dust.

 

THE END