Dark Gothic | Poetry | Lillien Series

Disclaimer: This work is an experimentation in dark gothic fiction. Any resemblance to real persons or actual facts is purely coincidental.

On troubled nights when dreams close in
Obscure visions arise from a heated mind.
Haunted by horrors and ensnared in guilt,
Prisoner to a memory I can't leave behind.
I wade through the mist, the haze and shade,
Treading on holy grounds that bury the dead.
Beneath wilted crosses, the departed souls lay,
Words of comfort over their tombstones read. 

The hour is strange, it is neither night nor day.
The grass is withered, the branches are bare.
Piercing the silence of the land of the dead, 
Bitter winds howled and moaned in despair.
The unhappy angels who watch over the dead.
With downcast eyes,  hands joined in prayer,
A dismal gloom enshrouds each melancholic face 
As they loom over graves in an oblivious stare.

Unfathomable whispers spoke in strange tongues
Etched on cold stones read words of an old rune.
In a rising crescendo, murmurs echoed all around
From the graves of men who were gone too soon.
Desolate and forsaken, the dead soon grow cold.
The graves lay forgotten, ruin befalls the stones
When death takes each life, there only remains --
Charred dust and ashes, no flesh, blood or bones.

Half conscious, half awake I look for the grave
The four walled coffin where sweet Lillien slept
No roses bloomed, wild grass grew all around
In torment and in grief, I  prayed and wept!
Drenched in remorse, could I have done more?
Did I kill my Lillien, through pain and neglect? 
When I learnt of my guilt, it was a little too late
 She took her own life, her soul I had wrecked.

Under the old oak, a broken and empty grave lay.
Her spirit so wild, free from the iron-clad chains.
For no earthly force can restrain a wrongful death;
Though dead and gone, her wandering soul reigns.
Under the darkened sun, I saw a lone figure in white
Treading in stealthy steps, she came to a sudden halt
The tide below was rising, waves crashed on the rocks
The white sea grew fierce, strong gusts smelled of salt.

With outstretched arms, I howled, wept and wailed
With remorse and fear, I stood drenched in sweat
In anxious steps, towards the veiled figure I went.
For deep down I knew, the worst was not over yet.
Stumbling upon every rock and gravel on the way,
Staggering and falling and gasping for my breath,
 I told her I loved her! I begged her to live - to stay!
With one last look at me, Lillien jumped to her death.

The darkest of dreams on the brightest of days
Plagued my eyes, I could neither sleep nor pray.
Sleepless nights, lest I dream of that fateful day
With a broken and heavy heart, wide awake I lay.
Each night more terrible than the one that fades
With each moment perishes my heart, blood, veins.
Fallen to bottomless depths, into the abyss of Hades
So still I lay, consumed by love's scorching flames.

With no salvation and redemption along my way
Haunted by the terror in her deafening screams -
In dire need for a cure, I close my eyes and sleep
To right the wrong, even if only in my  dreams.
 In the land of shadows long lost of hope, I see - 
Blanched and whitened graves, angels and sea -
In anguish and haste, with my heart on my sleeve
I look for sweet Lillien near the withered oak tree.

When at last I arrived at the lone tomb on the hill
There appeared a lonely, forlorn and grieving face.
The veiled figure in white slowly walked to the edge 
And without any further ado, I quickened my pace.
Gathering all the courage, I vowed to make it right. 
Renew Love's vows with my soul, strength - my all ! 
Confess my love that had become distant and cold
I reached for her frail hands - I cannot let her fall !

No more pain, no tears, there was no trace of fear
She betrayed no emotion while I sobbed and cried .
When I asked for mercy, one last chance at true love,
She spoke no word and pulled me closer by her side.
But this was no embrace like the romance of old days;
Knowing there will be no happily ever afters to come,
I succumbed to my fate and wait for judgement day;
There's no salvation from what I have truly become. 

In the land of the dead on the high cliff by the sea
Where the loved ones weep and go mad with grief,
Where the ground shakes, awakening the now dead
And the lost desperate souls hold on to their belief.
Under the withered limbs of a once living oak tree,
Two wilted graves entwine in a loving embrace
Was this true Love? Does Love perish with time?
Does true Love ever leave an everlasting trace?

© Copyright: Leah Chrestien. April 2021.  The post Dark Gothic | Poetry first appeared on The Ecstatic Storyteller. The author reserves the right to the content. No reproduction of content in any form is permitted without the prior consent of the author.