Dark Lullaby

Moonlit frost
Cradles the land
It paints my face
A numb white mask
Memories lost
Fading to gray
To abandoned places
Shunned by day.

On broken playgrounds
Where lost ones played
I still hear their laughter
As they were led away.
The birds have been silenced
Along with my voice
Not by violence
I was given a choice.

By a spidery phantom
Ancient, malign
Null and unnatural
But for which we pined
He steals through the daylight
Not restricted to night
He's searching for something
With sick, soothing vibes.

At the edge of the woods
Where animals hang
From the branches, untouched
By claw or by fang.
The mist tries to borrow
an enemy's face
Elation and sorrow
A demonic embrace.

Born from our longing
For monsters revived
From deepening shadows
Where echoes confide
Terrible, transient, present but faint
Look long and hard
And you'll see its taint.

Elegant lunacy
Comes to my side
Too weak to withstand
This dark lullaby
Skeletal fingers
Draw down my spine
And I hear him whisper,
You'll always be mine.