w i t c h e s

every neighbourhood houses witches

the last brick house down the lane

wild women with unruly hair

looking out of their windowpane

sharp dagger-like tongues

cutting curses deep in your skin

stay away, you warn little children

and whisper to your next of kin

tornadoes decorate the corners of their house

swirling dark clouds of anger and cries

they'll fight you on rent

the air chilly in their vents

cracks in the elevator shaft

leaking wisps of strength, adding on weights you could never hope to lift

raging thunderclaps sound

when you smoothly ask for the ring to be passed

to the man of the house

in whose blood you think these women are doused

they don't attend your fairs

or your warm bonfires

maybe because they're afraid you'll burn them on the pyre

finally a neighbourhood

where no witches are alive

though i hear their voices

in my own exasperated sighs

i look in the mirror

to find, the witch that was cursed 

now resides inside

the brick melted into smooth blinding silver

like a lake of my 'sins' 

stay away, you warn little children

and whisper to your next of kin

Rattlesnakes

Open the box slowly, 

Careful not to them let them in out,

Slide your fingers below the lid,

Pull it off.

*Clang*

*Hiss*

One slithers out

Slowly

Calculatingly

It whispers into your ear

Singing tales 

Venomous to the core

Wraps itself slowly around your neck

Cutting your breath 

Choking you

It snakes around your chest

Crushing your ribs

Digging into your heart

Makes a hit for what matters most,

Innocently pretends nothing is wrong

Seeks your shoulder to cry on

But asks you not to pry on

Once you know the truth

Go ahead

Throw a stone at it

Scream at it to go away

It recoils, 'wounded'

Remember, victimisation is her game play. 

Another slithers out 

Pretentiously

Sweetly 

Stares at you with its beady eyes

Convinces you that it means good

Bites you when you look the other side

This one claims to love you

As it fraternises with the enemy 

This one blames you of creating camps

Accuses you of the divisions.

It says it has morals,

So it won't bite your neck

Instead it will slowly cut into your heart

Because you thought it wasn't a threat.

One more crawls out

Sickeningly

Jealously 

A late arrival

Wrapping itself around your head

Telling you, they're happy for you

As their vicious tongue gives you a lick

You smile

Swat it off, lightly 

But it tightens the grip

Unsure of what it wants itself

Puts you on the guilt trip

They rattle you to the core

Creating their nest in your stomach

Burrowing into you

Throw them out

Scrape them off

Don't house them any longer

Out-about

Looking for another person to devour,

Meticulously they shed their skins

With it, the guilt of their sins.

The Warning Bells Are Ringing

"Close your eyes"
they put their fingers across my eyes,
"Its not there if you can't see it." 
they whisper in my ears.

"Hush now don't say that" 
they say as they slowly part my lips,
"You don't need that anymore"
I hear the sound of their scissors snipping.

Snip snip

My tongue is gone.

I flail around helplessly,
They can't do this to everyone,

Someone will see,
Someone will speak,

But wait, can they?

This is wrong, this is unfair.

The warning Bells are ringing, loud and clear.

The warning Bells are ringing, can't they hear?

Everything will fall apart.

The kingdom they are building,
with the fragile bricks of perfection 
and the cement of their propaganda,
Won't last long in the storm that is brewing.

The warning bells are ringing, loud and clear.

The warning bells are ringing, can't they hear?