"Death"

 


She silently slipped into my room
            bringing night’s enveloping velvet blackness
                        in her sunken eyes and raven hair
Her hands reached out for mine
            coaxing me to dance with her
                        along that icy rim of eternity
My head felt heavy upon my pillow
            My arms and legs merged into my bed
                        immobile and leaden
Her breath poisoned the air
            seeping into my lungs with molten heat
                        chilling my blood into a sluggish, frozen river
I turned my eyes away
            staring fixedly into myself
                        Yet she was there
                        Empty and hollow
                        a void—nothing
            and I moved toward her
            even as I moved away
she whispered words I could not hear
            and yet I did her bidding
sobbing for days
            Until my eyes ached red and dry
            and my heart bled into
                        itself
            wracking my body with unreal pain
                        no one but she understood
I fought to escape
            turning to flee
                        with nowhere to go
She stood before me, beside me, behind me
                        within me
Then I heard
            faint and distant
                        a trill of laughter
                                bubbling and rippling through the starless night
            an intermingling of voices
                        high and low—calling my name
                                    giving me direction
                                                away, away
I pulled myself away from her deathly dance
            Yanked myself out of her clutching grasp
                        moved toward the golden sounds
                                    of love and light
She followed me
            she stayed with me
                        now and forever
I sense her presence
know the sound of her footfall
            instinctively sniff the air for her scent
                        careful and cautious
She still wants me
            her pull and determination both suck me into her orbit
                        and repel me with horror
            But those voices of laughter
                        with the eyes of sunlight
                                    and smiling mouths of delight
                        carry a stronger current
They always rescue me
Take me where she cannot reach me
            protect me for a little while
                         . . . love me

Copyright 1999 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman

“Rats, a Pond, and Change”

 

            Our never ending battle against roof rats kicked up a solution that I’ve tried to avoid for several years—removing our pond that rests close enough to the house to draw in uninvited guests. When the rodents first appeared, they entered through an extremely small opening by our hot water heater. As time passed, they found other points of entry that always stayed along the back side of our house—near the kitchen and laundry, but also near the pond. At one point, the exterminator suggested that the pond enticed the rats into the area, and their break-in instincts led them into the house. We’ve tried different traps inside the house, including our own more successful live traps. The outside of our house, lined with baited traps by the pond, seemed to work, until this week when we spotted more rat sign in the laundry area.

            Today, I’ll start removing the pond. Draining it won’t take too long as we’ll the fountain pump can clear out the water quickly. Reclaiming the gravel from the interior and edges will take time, and relocating parts of the foliage to different areas of our yard may consume my mornings for a while. I like to think of myself as an ant. If I focus on one part each day, I can shift and move and change.

 

Copyright 2025 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman