Banshee
Fairy maid or fairy crone,
woman of the mound,
you may hear her lamenting song
or in the night
a keening cry, a howl, a shriek, a wail.
Dogs will whimper and bark,
soldiers flee from battle spots,
and you will feel an icy spike
centered in your heart,
sharpen than any surgeon’s scalpel
as it cuts–
and you’ll wonder if this is a harbinger
of what will be,
or explanation of what was.
Paul Brookes is hosting a month-long ekphrastic challenge using folklore images to celebrate the launch of his new poetry collection, “As Folktaleteller.” You can see the images here and also read the other responses.
Yesterday and today: Merril's historical musings 
Reblogged this on The Wombwell Rainbow.
Thank you, Paul.
I love that last stanza!
Thank you! 🙂
both, probably…(K)
Delightfully chilling! You’re on a roll with these!!
Thanks so much, Liz!
You’re welcome, Merril!
What could be more chilling than the shrill cry of the vampire?
Indeed!
I think these ekphrastic challenges is a good idea because you are very adept at working with them since you do a lot that you share on here. And then the ones in your book! I think I should start to do some . . . .
Thank you, Luanne. I do like ekphrastic challenges. These folklore images are giving me more ideas from looking up than from the actual images (on some days), but it’s still a prompt.
Yeah, anything that gets you traveling down the rabbit hole of the imagination!
🙂