Ghost Story - Jason

On the writing

The assignment this week has been one of my favorites so far.  To write a Ghost Story in the style of Poe is just perfect and at every poem I looked at I was reminded about how much I like his poetry.  In the end I went back to one of my favorites, Conqueror Worm, which has this great kind of informal, but rhythmic ABABCBCB stanzas.  I hope you enjoy.

Unsettled

Awake and hear the quiet creak.

Footsteps or wind you hear.

Night has made your heart grow weak.

You feel the presence near.

You dare not move until you know,

Which way your thoughts to steer.

You must be free!  you must let go!

You can't give into fear.

So, you lift your body from the bed,

And reach out for the light.

You feel that sudden sense of dread,

It can't repel the night.

The shadows grasp your grasping hand.

The pull you can not fight.

Quickly to your feet you stand.

Your now compelled by fright.

Fingers dance across your calf.

The specter writhes beneath the door.

Is that a disembodied laugh?

You whisper, "Nevermore."

You make the aging hinges sing.

"What's there?" your thoughts implore.

Convinced you'll see some ghastly thing,

Not moonlit hallway floor.

But that is all your eyes reveal.

Disbelief begins to bloom.

How could all your senses feel,

The overwhelming weight of doom?

Then step, step, step you hear anew.

A wash with thickening gloom.

The ghost must want to play with you,

Just in the other room.