A Swamp Saga

 
Okay, this is a long one and took me a darn month to write. I love where I live in south Louisiana, it suits me just fine. But sometimes I feel the need to write dark.


Bogged down in this swampy quagmire
      Voodoo Priestess hovering around
      Taunting me with hoodoo sounds
Isolated and haunting from some ancient lyre.

This bog, this hell on earth I foolishly trod
      Feeling my way from over there
      To here as I shed tears in despair
Praying hard as I can to Sweet Jesus and God.

Tendrils of cypress trees, possessed as they are
      Reach down to caress as I make flight
      To I know not where in my confused plight.
Denizens of this nightmarish land are so bizarre.

 Slimy gators straight from the bowels of Hades
      Make my flight treacherous and precarious
      If it wasn't so deadly and perilous it'd be hilarious
Cavernous jaws open wide, its breath a rancid smell.

Why am I scurrying through this hell you ask
      If I just had somewhere to sit I'd relate
      Such a tale you'd think me a mental state
But I can't tell I must stop the horror of the devil's mask.

The raspy caw of a raven disrupts my thoughts
      Making me aware of my short time on earth
      My God, O my God, please give me rebirth
Take me from the soggy marsh, I am overwrought.

I know.  I'm aware I am in this quandary all alone
      I partook of the forbidden, bitter pomegranate
      Not knowing it would lessen my life on this planet
But it was a mistake, why can't I be allowed to atone.

My clothes are tattered, falling from my bones
      I rush hither and yon, desperately seeking comfort
      From southern hospitality and maybe a parish court
Alas, not to be, court date's already set in Voodoo Zone.

O, ghosts of the unjustly accused use powers of long ago
      Weave them around this evil swamp and strangle
      Wickedness beneath every oak you should mangle
Until nothing is left of the dreadful, evil Marie Laveau.

That's it!  It's all out now.  It's Marie Laveau I flee
      Black magic sorcerer, eater of rotting flies
      Boiler of children in a pot, O, her, I despise
She and her minions do chase me through this debris.

Nutria and black bear haunt this accursed place
      Kudzu and runaway vines conspire against me
      Screaming from fright I trip on a cypress knee
Flat down I plunk, quicksand embraces my face.

A slimy cold varmint slithers across my neck
      I jump up with a loud, magnificent sound
      Shook myself like an old blue tic hound
And leaned against a weeping willow, a total wreck.

A bayou town is near I know and to it I must go
      And pray those who live there will give me aid
      I know, yes I know, just as likely I'll feel their blade
They'll sure to be afraid the Voodoo Queen will show.

The moon so pale, the night lit up like day
      Flying pestilence raining down from above
      Bats, crows, things not akin to a peaceful dove
Diving at my head, eyes, my throat, I am their prey.

My wife, my dearest, I'll not be there for you to bury
      No coffin with me inside to wail and mourn
      I shiver to think I'll be in this swam so forlorn
No church funeral, no six good men the casket carry.

Could I but live through this awful ordeal
      A lingering, reflective thought will but remain
      Which I  know it will ultimately be my bane
Even rescued from this horror, internal wounds never heal.

Plagued and lost I'm to wander on my solitary own
      History is wrought with hapless souls as I
      Who find comfort and peace with snow in July
Since that will mean the curse has found itself my clone.

A wandering man, much like the Jew I'm accursed
      Not stopping, no, never tarrying, my feet trod
      Wherever I go I'm doomed; I'm in Satan's squad
Dear God, for me make this Voodoo charm reverse.

Moon, don't leave me here in this place without light
      Purgatory on earth is what the Goddess of Torment
      Has banished me to, O, Prince of Peace please vent
And rage and destroy my nemesis, I'll be humbly contrite.

The moon hath deserted me to my awful fate
      In this pitch black, distressing and sad embrace
      Of a swamp where ancient trolls roam and pace
Why fight it says to me, you know you're alligator bait.

O nightmare of hell, you have more lost souls
      Screaming their silent screams of torment
      For release from their mindless descent
To the bowels of this final despicable place like blind moles.
      
Why the harlot of Hades picked me I wish I knew
      If I hadn't stopped for a drink at Albino Alligator's Saloon
      If I'd just kept on driving neath the full harvest moon
But I did and this beauty in my ear did whisper and coo.

Femme fatale from the blackest depths of the River Styx
      Fed me wondrous delights from her body of lies
      And soup with menstrual blood from her dark thighs
Quick as a flash I was transported into this slippery swamp ick.

No more.  I can't run.  Marie Laveau is shrieking loud
      She is coming, yes, I know she is, but one surprise
      She thrives on hate and fear from all us guys
But I plan to love to her, oh, yes, I plan to astound.

Old Marie won't know what to do.  She'll open her eyes
      And see love shining through as I smile and like her, coo
      By the time I'm done she'll know what love is for true
But love she can't manage, it'll choke her dead for all her lies.