The Witches

What a band of ruthless witches:

Wicked, ugly, pickled itches

With such grave and ghastly twitches,

Stitching binds, unbinding stitches,

Slitting throats to gather riches

For their slimy storage ditches,

Cackling in the highest pitches,

Clashing when spells suffer glitches-

But which is the witch here which is

On the whole the queen of snitches?

 

Most dark and secret be these hags-

These mischief-making scalawags-

With warty fingers, saggy bags,

Disheveled hair, and straggly rags,

Who run about in zigs and zags

Beneath the jutting jagged jags

Amidst the crusty craggy crags

Around the dusky musty quags

Where dusty smog conceals the snags,

And stifles all with wheezing gags.

 

Rain in bitter torrents drenches

All the crags and muddy trenches,

Leaking down to where it quenches

All the thirsts of those with wrenches

Stirring cauldrons of bad stenches,

Putting potions on their benches,

Harrowing whoever blenches

With their claim as überwensches

(Though they can’t tell bass from tenches,

Nor have any clue what French is).

 

Beneath the bleak and hazy hills,

The cauldron’s smoke their cavern fills

As each witch tends to selfish wills,

And are such hard-to-swallow pills,

Who rail, and rage, and rat in shrills,

And conjure streams of hellish ills

When any disregards their skills,

And spoils a potion, sparks some spills

From cans of quills or jars of gills-

They toil in bubbles, troubling thrills.

 

So which witch is the queen of snitches?

I say each one amidst these witches.

-EDP

Reviews

[Papaya]

your rhyming poems are always so much fun

[emipoemi]

I'm so glad you enjoy them.

(You know I have a book out with a bunch of them AND more....you should check it out).

[barleygirl]

DAMN YOU! YOU'VE OUTDONE ME! Curses headed your way! Your muse shall immediately be gobbled up by my flock of freaks. I know you know I'm wild about extended rhymes & it really hurts bad to watch you do it better than me! *wink! wink!* Mine can be complicated & heavyset, but you keep yours lighthearted & fun. This shows a ton of imagination, clever wit, & fun humor! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[emipoemi]

well.....it helps that I've had 10 years of experience and evolution. But this poem I actually wrote during my phase 1 era 9 years ago, so......what can I say? I just let the muses sweep me on their adventure. But I'm glad you enjoyed it.....even though, you're a little bummed out that I "outdid" you with one of my earlier poems (which to be frank was not the intention). Thanks for reading.

[barleygirl]

I know there's no competition intended *smile*

[Wyrn Tiger]

Wow,wow and more wow. Loved this so much

[emipoemi]

So glad you did! Thanks for reading!

[Chris Shaw]

Excellent rhyme and meter. You have written a most accomplished poem here. Love it. Well done.

Chris

[emipoemi]

Thank you! It was definitely so much fun to write (it's also part of my debut poetry collection). Glad you enjoyed it.

[Annette Pisano-Higley]

Which witch is the “queen of snitches”?? Yes, rhetorical. Yes, brilliantly whimsical. Technically perfect form, flow, cadence and rhyme. You are at Masters’ level my friend. Do I see the influence of Lewis Carrol here? He would be proud! Kudos!

[emipoemi]

....I don't know about any intentional Carroll influences, but after over a decade of writing poetry, I wouldn't be surprised that a couple managed to slip in unnoticed. So glad you enjoyed it!

[Jacob Clifford]

That's some intense rhyming! I love the whimsicality!

[emipoemi]

Thanks you.

[Gee]

Jesus this must have taken a whole heap of time to put together. It's hard enough to string a few rhyming lines together.
I tip my hat to you and your skilled pen

[emipoemi]

Thank you. It actually didn't take as long as you think. Glad you enjoyed it

[Ashwin Shanker]

Work of a genius, no doubt. Most of us would stumble to go on with the rhyme scheme beyond a point, but the sheer length of your stanzas shows that we just need to push ourselves even further. Brilliant write.

[emipoemi]

Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.

[emmajoy]

'' .. Most dark and secret be these hags- ~ These mischief-making scalawags- ~ With warty fingers, saggy bags, ~ Disheveled hair, and straggly rag, Who run about in zigs and zags.. '

Brilliantly brilliant.. what meter, what imagination, how appropriate for round about now.. words to shout from a few rooftops.

Shows great class, and.. more than likely quite a bit of thought and hard graft!

[emipoemi]

Thank you so much! Indeed, much thought had gone into this, it being my first ever attempt at absurdity. Glad you enjoyed it.

[emmajoy]

The 'thought' is obvious inasmuch it shows precision but has such a natural flow. Will be back for another read.. or more.. as promised. i

[emipoemi]

in your own time. Don't take it as an obligation.

[emmajoy]

I won't - promise!

[Monday Parker]

This is great. MAN I have not read a poem I like this much in a long time. The imagery is so on point. This is what its all about!!!

My favorite lines are

These mischief-making scalawags-
With warty fingers, saggy bags,
Disheveled hair, and straggly rags

[emipoemi]

I'm so glad! Thank you so much! Well, there's more where that came from.