The straw rope

The boy hooked the straw from his uncle’s hands

Gleaned from the pile on the kitchen floor

The lamp cast a glow on the oaten strands

As the boy turned the twister and backed towards the door.

The fibres enmeshed and the rope became strong

The boy passed the threshold into the night air.

The wind through the trees sang a querulous song

And the boy said the words of a supplicant prayer.

The darkness enclosed, like a witches cowl

Wrapping the boy in a cloak of black

Finger of bat and feather of owl

Flittered and fluttered behind his back.

His uncle’s call broke the sinister spell.

The rope showed the way to the haven of light,

A coven of banshees were sent back to hell

And the boy was rewound from the covetous night.