The Hungry Lamp
May 10, 2023
The Hungry Lamp
The grit beneath my shoes in crunching rhythm,
The ghostly sounds prick through my socks and skin,
Nocturnal street, lonely, wrapped in darkness,
A solitary street lamp guides the way,
A beacon to the weary midnight walker,
Seductive to the many eyes that fly,
Stepping into luminence, I stop,
The beast above me gorges on its prey,
Humming with content,
Its swollen belly proudly on display,
The shadows of the corpses smudge the pavement,
Victims jitter this night’s Danse Macabre,
A buzzing homage to the flighted fallen,
Hand in hand, I guide them through the veil.
Tom Edwards