It was my nightly recurring teenage motif:
The cramped room with a stomach-knotting
presence, creaky floorboards and one wickedly
white door looming as ghastly and large as
any bad-movie omen about to play out.
Being poltergeist-gripped, it swayed back an inch
before a sudden but noiseless slam
shut that unhinged me toward hasty shouts
of, "The power of Christ compels thee!"
(It's a silver-bullet phrase packed and ready in
the chamber of all aspiring exorcists.)
The devil scared out of me yet again,
I'd wake up with renewed vows to avoid TV
horror fests, and those sensational stories
my mom brought home in her Weekly World News.
At We Write Poems, Wayne Pitchko suggested we write about doors. Digging back into my childhood, this is what I came up with.
11 comments:
Reminds me of my childhood times too. I used to watch scary movies on television with a blanket so I could cover my face when the scary parts came. Now as adult I avoid scary movies! You couldn't pay me to watch a horror film.
http://inthecornerofmyeye.blogspot.com/2010/06/lavender-key.html
You didn't avoid them, did you?!
ha! Something about fear draws us to it. Well written and engaging. Thanks, Francis!
Ah yes, those teen years were something! Interesting what someone's imagination can conjure up!
Oh boy don't I remember those childhood nightmares.
Too many horror movies but I am still addicted.
I enjoyed this a lot!
Pamela
I'm addicted to horror films, and have expanded my repertoire to include disaster films. =)
Loved this! Now I want to find a flick!
one wickedly / white door looming as ghastly and large as / any bad-movie omen
Wonderful, what the well-fed imagination can do! Enjoyed this, Francis!
I absolutely loved the title!
What a poem!
sky as the canvas of my thoughts
I love how descriptive this is, Francis...your imagery and metaphor throughout this whole piece is excellent (the comparison to that well-known exorcist's phrase to a silver bullet, the looming large white door). You did very well in evoking that feeling of late night horrorfest fear in your words. Well done.
-Nicole
behind my white bedroom door was a radio....no tv.....The Shadow Knows
...nice one Francis...Go Hawks
Enjoyed this. I'm not one for scary movies, no no.
@Mary I'm not a fan of the modern horror film which is more about blood, gore and psychosis. I like my horror to stay in the realm of the fantastic and supernatural.
@Brenda I have very specific kinds of fear I'm drawn too, but I'm drawn nonetheless :).
@Diane My imagination tends to conjure too much.
@Pamela I gravitate more toward animated films these days. The real world is horrific enough at times.
@Linda My latest addiction has been to Miyazaki films, which have a bit of the supernatural but in a much more charming way.
@Paul I think my problem is I feed my imagination too much right before I go to bed.
@Gautami Thanks... I'm fond of the slightly off-topic title.
@RWP Those dreams really did happen, though I may have altered them a little for poetic affect :).
@Wayne I am a member of the vidiot generation.
@Irene You're better off that way :).
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