The Jack-o’-lantern moon rises large and orange <br />Over the black tree on the black hill; <br />As though the Harvest Moon returned <br />From the underworld, with a broad hunter’s grin. <br /> <br />The air is purple as a spell in a bottle <br />And impossibly thin as skeleton skin. <br />I un-stopper it, I tip it up and I drink it in, <br />To mix with the black elixir in my blood. <br /> <br />Jigsaw leaves on the ground are rotting. <br />Scattered are their patterns of yellow and red <br />That cast geometries of invocation <br />To wake the spirits of the dead. <br /> <br />Voodoo roots hold tattooed bones <br />Rapping them on crypts underneath the trees. <br />Then they shake them to a silent dance <br />And every twist, twists within me. <br /> <br />Give to me a pinch of venom <br />A thimbleful to prick my senses <br />Draw to me all dark temptresses <br />I am the beast… and tonight I hunt a witch. <br /> <br />I see her, walking sharp as scissors, <br />Hip-sway could stop a hypnotist’s watch, <br />Mesmer would be mesmerised <br />By this witch; secretly I watch her lips. <br /> <br />I am the beast, I prowl at distance <br />I circle her, she mutters charms; <br />Before the moon climbs to its height <br />I will have her disarmed within my arms. <br /> <br />My thrill overspills the edges of night <br />The trees whisper in flow and ebb, <br />The witch disappears in an undergrowth portal <br />Spun of brambles like a tunnel web. <br /> <br />I follow her through to another world. <br />And she turns around with a dazzling stare; <br />My heart trips up on my surprise, <br />My eyes are wide, but do I dare <br />Chase after this green-eyed fox, this witch? <br />I am startled like the hare. <br /> <br />But our gaze remains unbroken, <br />My dark eyes match her green spell. <br />The wood around begins to spin <br />Blurring as I draw her in – <br />She draws her nails upon my skin. <br />The moon is high, the time is nigh. <br />I am transformed. She is transfixed. <br />I am the beast. She will be my witch.
