..................................................
In the ghastly dark of autumns rise
A gentle fog reached through the skies
And rested over glen and dale,
To seek out the shades night would avail.

Red stones were damp from recent rain,
That failed an iron weather vane
Which flaked its whispers to the dust
Of almost seven years of rust.

Distant birds he could not see
Danced branch to branch, and tree to tree,
As fires blazed and embers flew
From chimneys old and chimneys new.

And the rats, they tripped the thoroughfare-
Their black-tipped noses in the air,
Their whiskers bent into a night,
That never shared the morning light.

This era had begun anew,
And London town was growing too!
Expanding ever high and low,
For a London not afraid to grow.

Victoria was now the Queen,
And her Britain was a grand machine.
Industry and trade would be
Britain's immortality.

But even Victoria, in her regal state,
Was ill prepared to expediate
An answer quick, and wise, and fair,
For a public who was unaware.

As the light fog draped the carrefour,
Where stood a businessman...and little more.
The day had surely took its toll,
Enough to task the heart, the soul...

When it jumped the railing of the dead,
And swept the gloaming overhead,
To land with but a thudding blow
Upon the dampened street below.

The thing was large and tall, a shadowed fiend,
Unnatural ears, an odd machine,
With horrid eyes, darkened and red.
As though it were a demon in its stead..

And the businessman stumbled, aye,
In the shadows long, dark and gray,
Until the demon skirled fair and leapt,
Into the night where all dark things are kept.

Still, lore and legend have their way
Of saying what they want to say...
They search for flesh and fertile soil,
Within our paltry, mortal coil.

In all the pubs the story traveled clear,
From face to face, and from ear to ear.
Of a dark in the night, and of eyes that would glow
Deeper than the evening winds can blow.

And Barnes Common never shared the same
Calm that bared its common name.
As a myth and lore seeped through every crack,
Of the legend they called Spring-heeled Jack.

Mary Stevens, they say, walked cautiously,
Down the narrow roads of Battersea,
She had just visited her Mum, her Dad,
And had lingered no more than a tad,

And against the cold, unnatural chill,
She started back up toward lavender Hill
Where Mary worked as a servant hire,
Even the humble folk admire.

Though it was late of eve, and dark of night,
With a moonfall wide and fair and bright,
Clapham Commons seemed a shard, a dart,
When Mary Stevens drew a start,

A something tall, and strong, and dark
Leapt from the shadows gray and stark,
And held her tight, in deaths embrace.
It even tried to kiss her face.

It tore her clothes, it touched her skin.
Such strength it had, so laced with sin.
T'was cold, t'was clammy, like something dead.
And oh, young Mary screamed with dread.

And that's when, oh, it leapt up high.
It disappeared into the sky.
And though neighbors searched and searched around,
The demon soul could not be found.

Though on the following day, a Coachman said
Twas not for fate, he'd sure be dead.
For a beast leapt before his carriage ride,
And if it weren't for fate, he'd have surely died.

The beast escaped into the sky
Jumping e're a wall over nine feet high.
While babbling a haunting, ringing howl,
A laughter feigned and bent and fowl.

.........................................................
End of Part 1 & 2
To Be Continued:

Copyright © 2012 Richard D. Remler

Till Death Do Us Part
Till death do use part a bold statement to make ,
but no one really cares once they cut the wedding cake.

A few years have past a so called
"Love that will last"
but
he works and cheats. And beats his wife and tells her to look neat!

She cries each night not knowing what do do
until one day she musks up the courage to say
F  YOU!
He walks up to her and shouts,"What did you say?"
He smacks her around  and tells her to stay in her place!

But this time she is bold and takes a stand
and says,"I can find a better man!"
She runs out and runs for her life and for the first time she can see
the light

The road ahead for her was tough she changed her name for that was a must!
In life all she just wanted was to be loved but now older she is prepared no longer scared.

It was her turn to shine.
She was no longer a puppet on a string
her name was Mrs. Sandra Lee
and that women
was
me.

I begged for sympathy
that I didn't deserve
You didn't want to hurt me
You were prepared to give me your world
But still I blamed you
And I started hating you too
It was easier
than blaming me
It was easier than confessing my own inner faults
It was easier
for you to take the fall
than for me to admit my flaws at all
Now I do see that I wasn't true to me
I shouldn't have lied about what I wanted
I should have known that some leaps
you just don't take
But it was easier
than sitting there doing nothing
It was easier
than to wonder for so long
It was easier
for you to take the fall
than for me to admit my flaws at all
And I apologize
with sincerity for the pain I caused you
And I apologize
for not knowing myself like I thought I did
And I apologize
for treating you like you didn't deserve
but it was easier
to face you than to face what I always knew