Horror

It's not what you think.

Horror

What is it

if not a story

about the ghost who haunts 

the halls of a two-floorer.

An old noir film

seventy years old 

whose effects seem to most

a terrible borer.

It could be a feature

with a gross and ghastly creature

terrorizing those who live

in the house on the corner.

Horror takes many forms

Film

Words written or spoken

Though little have you thought

with your mind widely open

for if you had you'd find

Horror will reside

in the unchecked corners

of who we are on the inside. 

Perhaps you fear

the apparition haunting your hall

because you find it 

frightening as all

to consider what waits beyond death.

Or you wean the concept 

of those old noir reels

with the man who was the last on Earth

because you don't want to imagine 

how awfully cold it feels

to be completely alone. 

You may not even consider

that what you dread

is that razor-toothed monster

hiding under your bed

but seldom have you thought of 

the beast that sleeps comfortably in it?

Horror

It is more than what meets the eye

for the goal of this rendition

is to pry

into the black heart of the human condition.

To reach deep into what we neglect

and make it impossible 

to forget

how you are never so far removed 

from the fears such a story shall beget. 

Are they just stories

or possibly truth in disguise;

They may hold much value

in the fantastical instances they hypothesize;

Perhaps it's not such tales

that create this malaise you recognize

but rather they've been there all along

waiting for their chance to rise. 

Reviews

[Clif]

I like the poem. It puts me in mind of a song by Santana "Puts you lights on", which has a line about a monster living under the bed. And a Traditional Scottish Prayer; "From goulies and ghosties and long leggedy beasties, deliver us from things that go Bump in the Night".

[Karissa A. Kelly]

Thank you for reviewing! Such kind words! :)