nine ghastly birds are bearing
a perfumed floating Scimitar
in the frozen night they perch upon
the walls of the Alhambra
concealed within a wooded hill
I clutch a bone white candle
and pray that the moths of the Dead are roused
and flit about my signal
a withered old man appears beneath
the tresses of a willow
though his body is wrapped in radiant birds
He has no shadow
one drop of blood is all They ask
a coin and a bowl of water
and flocks of white petals will I receive
from the hand of Lenore my lover
so I descend to the banquet hall
where the King and the Star-Queen hover
and see faces lit by azure lamps
the strange and my Familiar
the first chill threads of Winter claim
the walls of the Alhambra
as the moth-white souls of the Mighty Dead
have come to the light of my
candle
Granada, Spain
November 2012
[Slippery Elm is a loathsome he-Witch, poet, and hip hop emcee from Vancouver, Canada. He travels the world performing his poetry in the street and at venues, festivals, political actions, by hearth corner, and under leaf. Most recently, his work has appeared in Mandragora: Further Explorations in Esoteric Poesis. He is a permaculture activist and strives to support garden initiatives and green urban areas wherever he goes. As a member of jazz/hip-hop trio Elekwent Folk, he has released five albums, and Nazza, his first book of poetry, was published in 2011 on the Summer Solstice. He haunts bookstores and wild places, roots through graveyards, and panpipes at many a May-Day revelry. Visit him online .]
Eternal Haunted Summer 