In the dead and dark of night,
upon a haunted gorge they rise.
Magpies serenade deep echo’s
in aeolian shrieking shrills.
A figure stands in the shadow,
a black cloak and boldly hums
sonnets to the lost or lonely,
breath touched by icy crispy mists.
Pouting misty tendrils dance;
clouds blow long feted kisses;
Coyotes chant to a full moon
a sharpness cuts like the blade.
Vibrations shifting all about
nearby Kitty Jay’s old grave
shunned by the man she loved
the server girl took her own life
in the muddy cañon hollows;
Sun chases wandering spirits,
disappearing in the light of day.
Serenade songs of joyous virtue,
in swale dance the dew faeries.
And magpies shall soon return
with a shrill just after twilight to
roost above the grave of Kitty Jay
as fresh flowers appear there nightly.
Upon the outcast dead in Dartmoor.
Ken Allan Dronsfield is a 65 year old disabled veteran, prize winning poet and author from New Hampshire, now residing in Oklahoma. A proud member of the Poetry Society of New Hampshire, he has three poetry collections to date; ‘The Cellaring’, ‘A Taint of Pity’, and his third poetry collection, ‘Zephyr’s Whisper’. Ken does not have an MFA or Creative Writing Degree but, he once road his dirt bike on woodland trails from southern New Hampshire into Canada. He’s been nominated three times for the Pushcart Prize and six times for the Best of the Net, 2016-2018. Ken loves writing, hiking, thunderstorms, and spending time with his family and cats Willa and Yumpy, oh, and dirt bike riding, yes, he loves that!
