Midnight, and the whispers begin

The naughty kids cower in fear

Gryla is coming to feast on their sin 

The ogre- troll soon will appear

Fifteen tails, three heads with three eyes 

And horns of a goat at each side

Ears to her nose, sniffing demise 

The naughty have nowhere to hide

Mouth like a quarry, teeth as stone 

A hunger for flesh boiled in broth 

Grinding to powder every bone

Enjoying their bubble and froth 

Beards on each chin braided as twigs 

A foul anthem seethed in her harm

Iceland's children, her little pigs

And tenderness she plans to farm 

Leaving the mountain set to eat

The giantess has bags on each tail

Filling them full with mortal meat

She laughs as they bellow and wail

Clicking and clacking, hooves for feet 

Exasperate horror and dread

Smirking and smacking, oh, the treat 

For soon boys and girls will be dead 

Yule Lads, thirteen, hover around

The offspring of Gryla's design 

Sneaking and snatching, they have found

Employment's mischievous shrine 

Sheep Cote Clog fancies wooly sheep

And Gully Gawk downs the cow's milk

Stubby takes pies he plans to keep

And Spoon Licker steals his name's ilk

Pot Scraper ravages old food 

And Bowl Licker licks clean the bowl

Door Slammer wakes you, being quite rude

And Skyr Gobbler gobbles things whole 

Window Peeper keeps a look out

As Sausage Swiper swipes the pork

Doorway sniffer sniffs bread about 

And Meat Hook takes food off the fork

Candle Stealer steals all the light 

And leaves naughty kids in the dark

Gryla comes this unholy night 

Her children have left her their mark 

Once her new catches fill her need 

A summons ensures blood goes 'splat'

Beastly brutality will feed 

As comes her own pet, the Yule Cat

Ravaging any and all left 

Those children without new clothing 

Fill the beast's belly- lost, bereft 

As folly sating its loathing 

Red on the doorways; bloody streets 

A bloodbath beneath every tree

Nothing but pieces; tattered sheets

Removed for sad parents to see

Thirteen Lads head home with a grin

As Gryla and her Yule Cat dine

Midnight, and the whispers begin

The blood of the kids becomes wine

Midnight, and the whispers begin.

I'm morphing shapes and shedding skin.

A devil's curse donned once a year

Awakened in December drear.

Every night, the whispers rave

Punish those who've misbehaved!

And every December night, I morph

To discipline deviance without remorse.

Horned and cloven, the naughty gleam

And muffled whispers turn to screams

As I heed the call in my demon ear

To seek and punish--incite fear!

And perhaps they will behave next year.

Now, who am I? Must you ask??

A demon bearing quite the task

I'm no Saint Nick--quite the opposite.

Damnable. Ghastly. Monstrous.

Perhaps you've heard of me...?

I am Krampus.

Midnight and the whispers begin.

Christmas festivities slinking to end

premonitions flow in on vicious wind

fear congeals blood in icy eggnog

deer prance through what will never be

evil reverberates in paralyzed elves

wail of the storm lambastes my core

snow cloaks my windows so I can’t see

evening eyes hide under darkened veil

black wedding clouds sink in plain sight

shrouded in wreathed tears of loss

rhythms withdraw from spasmodic promises

shifting breeze hides scattered confetti

blowing away dreams of royal crowns

anxiety runs through champagne veins

massive void where no guests remain

sugar plums never sampled by sprites

soggy garlands strewn about the ruins

squeezed by the cold fist of cancellation

my dreams ride off in a broken sleigh

wicked Santa is nowhere to be seen

The Christmas Wedding is off!

Midnight, and the whispers begin

Where a familiar darkness settles in

Pavements breathe steam conflicting with the icy air

Metaphors of original sin

Where lovers sing tactile songs of lust and desire

Human embers hotter than any fire

Burning brightly under the stars

In the royal blue and orange wash of the night

Staining the structures of the city

Under a crescent moon

It seems the night has a vanilla grin

That holds the secrets of dusk

Known only to the pious ones that worship the moon

Anointed in midnight oil

Awash with neon and smoke from outdoor bars

or lost in the subconscious of other streets

The subtlety of the trees as they sway to nocturnal beats

The pulse

The rhythmic flicker that is beyond control

And always calling, beckoning to those that know

The excitement carried in mysterious depths

Ingested into thoughts that weave pixels onto digital screens

That stain the sheets of paper reams

Renditions of the night that escape your dreams...

© Richard Withey. All rights reserved.

Midnight, and the whispers begin

I cannot wake from this transient plane I find so often

So I now follow them closely, instead, and wait

Patiently for the words that will still echo come morning

A child tonight

With a worn cotton rabbit hanging losely in frail arms

Standing a hair's width from my right cheek

She is only present in the peripheral with my eyes sealed shut

Dishwater hair and the eyes of a frightened fawn

She needs her mommy, but mommy is gone

Knobby knees beneath a white hem, she is not sobbing

But she is confused and unaware of her hidden frequency

Between these lines of awake and asleep is a consciousness

Where she and others exist in a limbo state of frozen time

The whispers begin low and static, jumbled and nonsensical  

Until you know to listen for strings that join them

I ask through my silence for what is remembered

Never more than bursts of scattered pictures

And she creaks into a chilled calm, a statue

It is midnight, and the visions begin

Rosie, she stands on a wooden deck 

A farmhouse white and sundial behind stringy locks

She is alone and waiting, maybe seven

A worn cotton rabbit hanging losely in frail arms

Clay red and cracks beneath bare feet

I am running from the laughter of boys unseen

But close behind, menacing and mischievous

Until an electric bash to the back of my skulls pulls me conscious

But I drop down quickly again to a sharp blue rush

A cluster of air pockets escape above as I sink

Sun fading into a black wet tunnel, cold and muted

I am heavy and loose and drifting to sleep

The girl is gone when my eyes shoot open

And I know she'll not return

She only came to seek an ear

To drown in sunken midnight whispers 

Midnight and the whispers begin...

Resist temptation, be absolved of your sin.

Self-Doubt & Self-Hatred wave hello.

Indecision ponders which way I should go.

My dark, bitter heart has grown a hard shell.

Paralyzing Fear emits a palpable smell.

Anxiety strangles, it robs me of breath.

Prince Charming took off, now I love Death.

Jealousy's biting with her sharpest teeth.

Cowardice keeps me pinned underneath.

Insecurity's loud, demanding attention;

Insecurity breeds crippling apprehension.

Vanity in beauty, beauty is my Shame.

Pain pulsates into Pleasure,

I like them both the same.

Regret keeps me locked in choices I made.

Pride has grown weary, battered & frayed.

The questions I ask seek your validation....

The love I lament seeks your degradation.....

The Darkness offers his blackest embrace....

Jesus Our Lord offers His Saving Grace.

I stumble, tripped up by my contradictions.

Self-destruction's my drug,

and I feed my addictions.

Midnight, and the whispers begin.

Only because a life full of sin.

You hear the echoes in your head.

While you still sit there and listen to the dead.

"Do. it.", They tell you

"I see you", they say

While you just sit there.

And you wither away.

The Portals open and they come crawling through.

If they can get to me, they can get you too.

~simone~

Midnight and the whispers began 

lonely voices hanging in the corner 

fake smiles plastered onto to porcelain skin

silk trimmed dresses tailored to perfection 

breast agape with fear 

small -footsteps cascade down from the stairs

red-lipped and tipped and dipped perfections 

burn holes into the maiden 

whose eyes gleam with luster 

hands dressed in lace enlaced in envy as they press their hatred for her in her hands 

casual looks at how effortlessly she approaches and embodies the night 

how she holds her smiles tight 

her teeth daunting and alluring 

she looks at you as if she could swallow you in all one bite.

her gaze leaves you feeling hazed 

her looks aren't tamed she is a wild beauty 

 her ghastly appearance hangs over you 

like your conscience.

voices follow her as she emerges 

into the banquet hall 

they pelt stares and mistrusting looks 

at her body questioning thoughts and unanswered questions 

 her presence is almost ghostly 

the ballroom quivers and shivers 

over the cold draft hang in the air 

the walls screech and shake and at every step she silents the room 

as her shoes hit the floor 

a whisper so gentle, yet so violent sharper than a knife could kill a soul 

Midnight and the whispers began 

a hush of the mouth 

a quick slip 

an innocent misspoken lie 

a daunting answer 

a misstep 

an honest mistake 

a little white lie 

and a little accident happen at night 

she felt there envy and murderous thoughts caving into her mind 

so she picks up the knife so gently caressed in her breast and pushes it into her heart 

she was already dead she thought she should come back and visit. 

Midnight, and the whispers begin

with loud echoes and plans to do harm

from the demons inside of my skin.

Unable to sound the alarm

as the demons all try to escape

with loud echoes and plans to do harm.

Horrid visions of murder and rape

while the doors in my mind open wide

and the demons all try to escape.

Far too many to hold them inside,

I finally give in to their screams

while the doors in my mind open wide.

As the voices tell me their dark dreams,

my resistance is futile at best.

I finally give in to their screams.

Accepting these bitter requests

with a smile and a gleam in my eye,

my resistance is futile at best.

The fell beasts in my mind I let fly

with a smile and a gleam in my eye!

'Tis midnight, and the whispers begin

from the demons inside of my skin.

(c) 2016 - dustygrein

(a terzanelle in anapestic trimeter)

Midnight, and the whispers begin.  The screaming stops when each day ends. Back to a murmuring susurus of creep.  I close my eyes and gratefully sleep.

And startle awake as the talking starts. A childish chorus with male and female parts. He says he's glad to be alive and going to school. She says mommy and daddy will miss us fool. Soon they'll be yelling, I can tell. I stumble from bed for a day in Hell.

I know that I did it but nobody knows.  I'm such a snake that none of it shows. But they're in my mind, and that cannot be.  All that they are is under that tree.

I'm out of coffee; I head to the store.  Suddenly somehow I can stand no more. I cover my ears and scream and fall.  They come for me as I lay in a ball.  Clawing my face and tearing my hairs. I hear them both screaming their prayers!