the restless
unsleeping souls
are conjured forth
to celebrate this night’s
rising unhallow voudon moon
spirits entrapped in darkness
possessed
writhe here entranced
in bestial
rhythmic profane dance
a demonic ritual
of ungodly fire
cast this spell
of last atonement
these lost forgotten
called this deep night
by dark houngan magic
proffered by this voodoo priest
summoned
from the place of limbo
by this fevered shaman’s will
to bear immortal witness
seeking sanctified forgiveness
eternal pardon
to be ever spared
the consuming void
of graceless oblivion
while unholy apparitions
descend wraith-like
in dreadful cluster
to horror’s hellish plane
these begging mercy
rise supplicant
from the papa loa’s
sacred 8-point flame
in merciful petition
to the vengeful one
lest this eater of the undead
set upon the dawning morrow
to steal the blessed light of hope
and hurl the innocents
into the pit of anguish
foresaken
lost forevermore
rob kistner © 2019
DAY 13
I love these sections especially:
“to celebrate this night’s
rising unhallow voudon moon”
“entranced
in bestial
rhythmic profane dance”
“wraith-like
in dreadful cluster”
“rise supplicant
from the papa loa’s
sacred 8-point flame”
“eater of the undead”
Glad you do…
What a masterful synopsis of the mysterious and pagan voodoo tradition!
Thank you Bev. This was a fantastical vision I conjured as inspiration for this poem. Part tradition based, part manifest imagination.
Wow, Rob, I feel like there’s a lot I want to look up now after reading your poem, but I like the atmosphere you created of this voodoo ritual. The idea of sacrificing someone else to appease a dark spirit is backward to me as sacrifice should be an edification for the soul, which murder is most definitely the opposite.
Amaya, this is a personal vision influenced by mardi gras, voodoo, sin, repentance, atonement, supernatural, etc. In my vision, this is actually a gathering of limbo’d souls, not yet sanctified, and not yet at blessed rest. A ritual to enable final atonement. This gathering includes not only souls seeking sanctification, but also souls already profaned, as well as the eater of the undead – perhaps we might call him a devil. This entire ritual is to determine who among those souls caught in the “dark place between” are worthy of the light, to ascend. Those that are not will be hurled into the “pit of anguish”, consumed by unholy fire. This is my vision of a time of judgement, though not the final judgement.
There is definitely a conjuring aspect to all masked celebrations. Hidden spirits becoming manifest. You’ve evoked that feeling beautifully.
Thank you Kerfe. This vision is just something that manifest itself from the Yin side of my being. I was thinking celebration, spectacle, masks, sin, sanctification, forgiveness, atonement, dark, light, repentancd, etc. — this is what came through.
Nice descriptive lines: “the consuming void
of graceless oblivion”
Thank you Frank, glad you found this to your liking. I fear my fantastical dark vision may have unsettled many…
Pretty intense!!
Yes it is Imelda, and purely fiction… 🙂
Masterfully conjured!
Thank you Merril… 🙂