THE WITCH
By: Roland Crevecoeur Jr., M.D.
The Witch tells you how a young girl becomes….a witch!
Grey frowning skies
Cause old leaves to float
Recall dreary seasons
Of places remote.
T’was about this time
In 1605
An infant was born
Who remains alive.
She was but 8 years
That crispy fall morn,
Wrapped up in a ball
Asleep in the barn.
Tired and slow
Rustled lumps in the hay
Suddenly fierce
When awoken that way.
Prodded and poked
And pinned to the wall
Then gently put down
With delighted recall.
Only eyes spoke with eyes
As her garments shed mud
“Be calm little one
We are of same blood.”
Since that joyous day
She was no longer hounded
and grew up secure
with values well grounded.
There was a strange thing
Which occurred when she slept
Eruptions of fear
from secrets well kept.
Exhausted and sad
She’d reluctantly share
A glimpse of her past
A true sordid affair.
Her head hung in shame
Tears fell from her cheek
Her wary voice trembled
When she started to speak.
“A kiss from my Mom
then after she’d say,”
‘You’ll champion the cause
Of our customs one day.’
She’d reached for a hole
Disguised in the floor
And brandished a book
Of potions and lore.”
But her Mom was stayed
by threats to abide,
and never matured
her power inside.
Accused of bewitching
Mom’s power was spent,
No dad to protect
To jail they all went.
Folks shouted aloud
“Witch you will burn!”
Then bent low to her
“And later your turn.”
The day the guards came
They pried them apart
Amidst wailing and screams
Mom hurled in the cart.
An older Black lady
Pressed the child to her chest
And whispered it all
Would be for the best.
“For while they are gathered
You must find your way out
I will use my last spell,
Make haste on a route.”
With that she escaped
And never looked back
But cried all the way
for the flames on the rack.
Eight years hurried by
with The Book never sought
As little girl things
Were easily bought.
But big girl things
Would need an assist
She dreamed of his face
And the thrill when they kissed.
A little spell here
Would do little harm
Just make him aware
Of her burgeoning charm.
Because she was true
Her simple heart pure
The words did take flight
meeting targets for sure.
After falling in love
The two would get hitched
Blind to the costs
Of a love from bewitched.
She was only 16
And he 2 years older
The early years good
The later ones colder.
The birth of her child
Filled her with might
Only restrained
By his growing fright.
She held her child high
With “I promise to thee,
To be by your side
Never having to flee.”
As famine would creep
Across the dry land
The people did note
Something odd was at hand.
While even the best
Did suffer a spell
That young couple there
Were doing quite well.
The townsfolk got spooked
And arrested the pair
Her life ran full circle
A recurrent nightmare.
But she was much stronger
Then her mother before
And loosened the chains
Attached to the floor.
“We must quit this place.”
He said with a smile,
“I’ll fetch our small babe
As you hold them awhile.”
She held them with force
And the use of stockades
But thinking now what
caused her husband’s delays.
She later arrived
Where they once were to meet
Yet nothing remained
Save a letter to greet.
She raced through the note
Searching words that bestow
Loud breaths ever fast
Then she cried out,” OH NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”
“I’m sorry my Dear
this may seem so wrong
The entire ordeal
Was by me all along.
Please understand
I have taken The Book
Do not pursue
It is fruitless to look.
We are lost causes
But not our sweet lamb.
Her soul is worth saving
While ours be damned.”
She wept with self-pity
Her eyes swelled and sad
But then they turned dark
With her soul boiling mad.
“I WILL never rest!”
She said with a vow
“Until I have found
My baby somehow.”
“And then until then,
I will take theirs instead
Be they now live
Or be they now dead!!!”
Every town was her foe
Every forest her friend
The vast skies she searched
But came to no end.
So, hold your child tight
She is ruthless and keen
Always beware
For it’s Halloween!
