When the Old Hag Rides

When the Old Hag Rides  
~ Lessons from the Gullah Isles ~
   
Thrice in twelve measures   
succubus has defiled and mortified me   
Perched on my ebony planks  
I sit beside her this dawn as a gargoyle surveying that which is me  
   
I try to look up but cannot see the demon and myself nestled on my shoulder   
Only hear what is to become of my discarded marrow for the carrion feeders  
    
A pact is made   
   
Muted murderous wails for the Messiah's mercy resonate within my head   
But I have no voice in the matter   
   
My heart thunders as if to sink me further into this abyss  
Leaden limps are water logged with desperate sweat  
   
Is this Jordan's crossing in the sunrise?  
   
Arch angels don't sing to announce my coming   
Just my own terror   
I can smell my fear   
I pass out within suffocated screams  
   
I wake again to my grandmother's kitchen offerings  
Warm buttery Grits  
Fat succulent Bacon  
Strong Black Coffee  
Cornbread  
   
The sheets now soaked and stained as I rise   
   
I greet her as I was taught  
And tell her   
"The old hag rode me and this time I thought ..."  
   
She places her pecan brown gnarled fingers over my lips and reads from her book,  
   
In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. Genesis 26:31  
   
I bathe then eat, and   
   
As I  change the linen, I know the she demon will come again in this life  
And the price I will pay for my sins will tip the scales of my   
Sanity  
Humanity  
And dignity   
   
As it did with my Father   
   
Presented in The Power of Perception challenge hosted by Aish