15(A/N): This is sort of a free-writing thing with a theme in mind – which is why it's so awful. Don't expect to see any proper form as far as poetry goes. I'm more of a narrative writer, but I enjoy vague stories and rhymes. To put it into perspective, this is the sort of thing that I would normally expand to write a fully fleshed novel about, except that this is all there is going to be…if that makes sense. And it actually took me longer to write this than you'd think. Heh
Nine Little Girls
an odd poem for the dark-minded
Verse One
Nine little girls stand in line
Innocent and naïve,
Wide eyed, never fearing,
They want to see the world.
A wall wraps around them and their little town
protecting them from horrors in the dark woods
unseen, un-believed.
The dark woods outside, where MoNstErs creep.
Their safe and homely comforts
No longer please.
Adventure, romance, destruction,
Even death appeals.
Mothers warn, fathers guard
But happiness has fled without the walls
The grass is greener
Nothing else will do.
Why do little girls always leave?
What is there beyond the wall that they must see?
They won't listen.
They have been warned.
Wolves will get them.
tHE wOLVES wILL gET tHEM.
But you cannot tell them that.
Verse Two
Flora, tall and bold
Flees in the night
Thinking herself to be mature
But she is only a child
Her father's cage collapses
She takes the hand of the man she trusts
Feeling love, feeling safe.
He has made her the promise.
Down the road, they stop
Beneath a tree in the darkened woods
They make love
Like adults.
She makes herself woman.
They move along.
The firelight shines through the tress
And they come upon a camp.
She wants to flee but he makes her approach.
There are people there. Strange, dirty people.
He puts her hand
Into the hand of another man.
The gold speaks louder than anything she could say.
She has been sold.
Betrayed.
The trusted one flees.
Salty water caresses her face
She looks into a leering grin.
Flora ran away from home.
She has a new one now.
Verse Three
Dreary day, bored and wet
Eva left along the road.
Looking for a stone to kick
A bridge to burn
A bubble to burst.
Met a traveler,
A satchel on his back
Weighty and massive
Just her size.
She likes his hat;
He looks at her.
He smiles,
And she offers to help him
Bear his load.
Two backs are better than one.
He's burying a dead calf,
And they go into the woods.
A grave is dug,
Just her size.
Near the hole, the bag slips
Out flops an arm,
like hers.
It waves at her, lifeless,
Bloody fingers limp.
She looks at the pilgrim
Feeling cold.
He peers at her
from beneath his hat that she liked so much.
Now the grave is meant for two.
Verse Four
Annabelle, in her sleep
Wandered into the night
She was following a fairy
Who promised to take her home.
She is a princess you see.
Toward the castle she wanders
For her prince is waiting there.
He will shower her with riches
He will shower her with kisses.
Onward down the path,
her feet move.
Tracing a glowing light behind closed eyes
She reaches the ravine.
Just a little further,
Faith will move her forward.
Calm breath exits
As her soles leave the ground.
The castle is not beneath her, but she is headed there,
Sleeping soundly
Dreaming, she falls.
She will never wake up.
Verse Five
Poor little Rhea
She should have been a boy.
Only child
Carrying wood for her father.
She couldn't be what he'd wanted at birth.
Tough as nails,
Strong as an ox
Feeling a rush,
She goes out to face the world.
She can handle whatever it throws at her
And throw it right back.
The sun fades, and still she walks,
Feeling fearless.
She could tackle a bear.
The MoNstErs in the woods had best stay hidden.
Near the road sign,
A gang calls out with taunts.
Slurring, weaving, they want to talk
To a pretty little girl
Who is not boy.
She could run
She should run
But it's not in her to flee.
She turns to face them, to take them on.
They advance, chuckling with confidence that matches her own.
Rhea is not as strong as she thinks.
Verse Six
Sara is a curious girl
Likes to try new things.
Grandma is sick in bed
and only the herbs can soothe her.
Picking to fill her basket,
She spots something new
Near the tree its leaves shimmer.
It smells good
It must be safe.
Just one leaf.
Munch munch munch
The world changes color
Shapes began to slide
The rules melt away.
The girl lives no longer in the world of her guardians.
She wanders down the road
The colors dance, the leaves giggle
A woodland sprite sees her
He wants to dance
So they dance.
Whirling round and round
Dizzy sun
Dizzy moon
She will be a queen.
Lost in the friendly woods,
She bends to the ground
As she vomits her insides out
near the edge of the woods.
Her basket is soiled,
The safe herbs ruined.
Someone else will have to care for grandma.
Verse Seven
There is a pond in the trees,
Where Abby likes to swim.
She swims in the sunlight.
She glistens and spins
A tease for the one who watches her from the trees
Hiding in the shadows, not showing his face.
Abby likes the water, but stays shallow
She fears the depth.
Over her shoulder, she looks back.
He is still there.
The husband of another, he is forbidden to look.
But the nymph is pleased.
She smiles and turns to her carelessness.
Something glistens in the water,
Glistens like her.
She needs to grasp it
It may be a jewel.
With her toes she reaches,
But the prize slips further away.
She reaches again, but
It eludes her grasp.
The treasure leads her away,
She slips further out to reach it
Until she cannot breathe.
No one comes to help;
The shadow slinks away.
She is in over her head
and she realizes she cannot swim.
Verse Eight
Vera Vera Vera Vee
She's as crazy as can Be
She sees dwarves who steal her Shoes
Blue cats cross the fence Posts
Little boys treat her mean
Giggle and laugh behind her back
A nasty trick
Seals her fate.
a loud noise in the night
sends her from her bed
out into the night she goes
and the sky is lit with flashing lights
the booming thunder urges her on
further than anyone thought
past the wall and into the woods
they cannot call her back
she only hears them yelling.
She runs and runs
Winded, she takes refuge beneath a tall tree
The heavens begin to cry,
Her eyes rise.
The lights in the sky are maddening
Until one hits her, hard
She doesn't feel a thing.
They'd warned her of the woods,
But not of the trees.
Verse Nine
Ellen believes in ghosts
She chases them at night.
To love a man who is dead
Cold in the earth without warm arms
A tragedy.
To the graveyard she goes,
In the dark when no one is watching.
To talk to the dead.
No one understands
How she cannot let him go.
The war took him,
But she promised.
I will never look at another.
Kneeling in the soil,
Dirtying her gown
She whispers her troubles, her fears
To her beloved ghost.
The night slips on, and the moon glares.
The trees whisper harshly behind her back,
Judging her.
It is time to leave.
They will be getting suspicious.
She is not supposed to be out here alone.
She backs away slowly, remembering her promise
She will never look at another
And so her eyes stay on him
On his headstone.
She did not see that open grave
Until they found her in it the next day.
Now she is with her love.
Verse Ten
One Little Girl left all alone
Sally, world weary,
crushed from the inside out,
without ever stepping outside the wall.
She believes without seeing.
She knows the truth and the stories.
She knows what happened to the others.
The MoNstErs got them, and their screams are dead to the woods.
Now, she will never go outside.
She does not want to venture from home.
Housewife
Church mouse
Good little girl.
Because of fear, she has been destroyed as well.
But at least she breathes.