Today I wish magic upon you

(Unpublished middle-of-the-night poem written 01/02/2018)

Today I wish magic upon you,

to sway your hips, to move your feet,

to fill your chanterelle heart with song and love,

to remind you, you are no alone.

I wish upon you that kind of magic,

The one that happens at night,

when you read and you’re transported.

The magic that happens when you hear a song,

and your skin is on fire,

as if you’re drawn to the sky by every hair on your body.

I wish magic on you so strong,

that you can set people’s hearts aflame,

and leave them wondering what just hit them.

I wish magic upon you,

the kind that accompanies the slow healing of old wounds,

the kind that keeps you alive,

the kind that reminds you daily,

you’re good; you’re beautiful.

I wish that magic upon you,

so when you sleep,

you dream of good things.

-o0o-

Ambassadors

well, well...

I guess I shouldn't be surprised

the angel and the devil

fully realized, standing at my door

both penitent, level, head-to-head

pontificating of duty

to the absentee father

one of repentance

the other of rebellion

threatening terrible calamity

but you both are

…pathetically vulgar

insisting that I in my (let's face it) glorious style

should pick a side

while you had danced your war

across the bones of my kith

scattered our bodies with stones

prayed to your respective gods

while we prayed for mercy

but answer came there none

and when I stood there, one

alone with no more to bury

why is it that I should happen,

to stumble upon that great weapon?

such a thing I swore I would never use

and here you are standing hand-in-hand

buttering me up oh so grand

save the people, save the land

while you aim my crosshairs at each other

with your trigger fingers twitching

figuring you’d be stitching 

history’s tapestry together

you, Penelope?

waiting for your long lost lover to return

and oh, those promises you make

the threats you hedge

layered on like frosting all too much

on a sickly cake wedge

rich and thick

you offer gold

but you offer dick

you offer power

but you offer peace

no

you have nothing I want

make your promises

blubber your threats

we three know the truth

that you are as empty

as the seat your father left behind

and your war the same

for you and your kind

two pretty kings each with one eye

all-seeing for the blind

but you have not bothered to see the coming storm

-o0o-

Repurposed

some folk keep their demons in the cupboards

    some under the stairs

    under the bed locked up in pairs

some folk keep their demons in their pocket

    others far, far away

    some keep their demons locked up

    hoping to keep them at bay

I keep my demons ground fine

    to add sparkle to my eye shadow

    a shimmer to my waterline

        their blood a paste to moisturize

    and make my skin oh – so – fine

conditioning my hair with demon bile

    a jar in the fridge for nail polish
no need to abolish

    the sinful little fuckers

if they come for me

    I’ll eat them up

        munch and bite

            demon bone to keep the teeth white

-o0o-

This poem was inspired by this picture posted by a friend on Facebook:

Aventurine

aventurine eyes

green little holes

through which he spies

the cat sat watching

still as a post

waiting for me to move

he tilted his head

as if he could upend me instead

shake the inaction from my limbs

where I sat eating, being eyed

by a green-eyed cat

one eye on me

one eye on the slivers of meat

"you know"

I said

"this is bad for cats

it's full of salt and junk"

the cat smiled and said
"that may be true

but as I hear it tell

it's bad for humans too"

-o0o-

Grace and the Lich

Grace brought her sword and silver shield

and wore her iron helm

she saught the barrow in the field

beneath the greying elm

she came to slay the lichly gloom

who stalks the fields at night

and break his bones within his tomb

to end the fearsome sprite

her guide is Morgan, whitebreast crow

who flies about her head

to look above and let her know

of things that lay ahead

she let Grace know as up the road

the lich was lurking there

standing in the bushy woad

with nettles in its hair

she struck the lich about its head

it crumbled into ash

so off she went to find its bed

where sleeps his boney stash

she found the elm and pushed aside

the door of moss and bark

and made her way down inside

into the gloomy dark

and two by two the bones were lain

as teeth cut to the bone

and so was our dear Grace then slain

lichkind don't dwell alone

-o0o-

Small Heavens

[When you read this, if you can, try listening to Vangelis' "P.S." from his Voices album.
Link to Song]

when I was small

I dreamt up that ladders were magic

that if you climbed up

really fast

that they'd take you somewhere

else

some magic spells

would whisk me far away

silver bells and cockle shells?

right?

somewhere over the rainbow?

the places only the fairies know?

but no fairy came to take me hand-in-hand

and the world is far more dark 

than Yeats could ever understand

and magic and gods eventually died

so I made small heavens

here

in small places

left toadstool pebbles

and rhinestone wishes

in every corner of the house

and slung about my neck

like a broken dream reforged into living hope

it was my way to cope

a small rope to tether me here

lend me scope for the future

they're small things

mundane

they don't promise far off paradise

or salvation in the darkest of times

but they do lend small breath

so Puck was at once real

with secret kisses 

and silly notes tagged on his horns

as we lay in the leaves under an autumn tree

as he read

and therefore is Love said to be a child

because in choice he is so oft beguiled

and in small moments

in tiny places

hidden away in secret cases

locked up in far cupboards

I kept that shard of my heart

that still sees wonder

and amazes at small things

how flowers turn to the sun

how ladders become doors

how a child can disappear in the leaves

-o0o-

Vampire

what little remorse our hero had

he'd lost for his old friend

Apollo was the very one

he'd chosen to offend

and so the sun was most unkind

to white teeth and nails clenched

to flesh plagued by that which

only the freshest blood quenched

and Hecate was angered by

Apollo's wicked curse

that she paid Chiron's leave

with coins from her own purse

so Death could stalk the halls

of bishop, priest, and nun

and gift them life who dared

to spite the visage of the sun

-o0o-

The Shy Thing

I've always seen him
the shy thing
standing behind doors
hiding around corners
nobody sees him
but I do
he's very shy
the shy thing
with his little smile
his little teeth
his long claws

he doesn't eat much
usually the rotting things
at the bottom of the bin
he likes them
they're easier to eat
and they taste like something
he likes the grease on the polystyrene containers
I bring home
he likes spicy food

nobody believes me
when I tell them about him
they can't see him
they think he's imaginary
but I see him
he's always been here
for as long as he can remember
in this house
and he knows all the best places to hide
under the small table in the hallway
nobody looks there
up the three doors in the ceiling
nobody notices them
behind the television unit
in the empty cupboard nobody uses
often you'll hear a light go on or off
but you don't know which light it was
it's the light in the ceiling
in the dead of night
you can sometimes hear is feet shuffle
he doesn't walk so well
he's been hurt
long ago
so he shuffles
wearing odd socks
the ones that go missing in the wash
I gave him an old shirt of mine once
and we became instant friends

I made noodles for him once
he didn't like them
he left them till they went all green
then he slurped them up

he's a very good friend
one day the bad people came
they said they fix the electricity
one man went up into the ceiling
he never did say what he saw
but he came down his rickety ladder
white like a crushed fast food plate
he wouldn't say
his boss said he was being silly
the shy thing sat on the boss' head
I don't know what everyone else saw

but the boss died some days after that in hospital
they said his brains went all green
the shy thing said he went to visit the boss
in hospital
he said it was the only time he'd ever leave
when he went out to eat
he said that with a smile I didn't like

but
the shy thing is such a good friend
but now I don't like going up into the ceiling any more
not since the boss came to stay in my house
I didn't like it
but the shy thing insisted
the boss screams a lot
when the shy thing locked the boss up in the ceiling
then I couldn't hear the boss so well any more
which I liked
he's very afraid
and that makes me afraid
the screams upset me
but the shy thing keeps him quiet with his nails
most of the time anyway
but nobody else can hear the screams
I guess
some people are good
at only seeing and hearing
what they want to

-o0o-

Wonder Worker

you should see her do it
fold up the earth
and jump from here to there
instantly
she's cunning that way
Ms. Lard
her nimble fingers
tracking along the pages
hungrily hunting for spells
her cleaver thaumaturgy
read aloud
like songs at night
each word as softly spoken
as a leaf brushing by rocks in a stream
and her friends would come
calling to her
"Taya! Taya!"
"Work your wonders!"
"Find my lost love!"
"Bring my money home!"
"Produce a cure for me!"
"Taya! Taya!"
and she would
because she knew the seventy third sign
she could speak the explicit names
she heard them in her sleep
when the goddess whispered in her ear
and she scratched the symbol
carving it into her tongue
making a shem of her flesh
using the sharpened rib bone of the Archangel Uriel
so when Ms. Lard spoke she made
she unmade
then neatly tucked the world under her arm
strolling away
until the next day
when her friends would come calling

-o0o-
Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you!

Old Tamain

there once was a goblin Tamain
who boasted of all his domain
his heavy gold crown
creased a permanent frown
on a head that grew slowly insane

till a traveling man wandered by
and watched the old orc sob and cry
why shed tears so cold
when you're all clad in gold
and your riches are stacked to the sky

enraged old Tamain drew his blade
the last mistake he ever made
the grizzled old lord
fell upon his own sword
squashed flat by his crown where he laid

-o0o-
Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you!

The Clicking Eye (Third Rewrite)

So with loads of coaching and encouragement from the editorial team at eFantasy Steampunk this is the final version of "The Clicking Eye" that's being used for the magazine. I want to give a big and warm thank you to the team at eFiction and their Steampunk division. I wish you guys the best of luck with this new adventure in the Steampunk genre. If you are not aware of eFiction you can find them on their website http://www.efictionmag.com

I have included a section here of my poem "The Clicking Eye".

"The Clicking Eye"

I met him by the shores of Crete
     where we sailed East to Lebanon
     by caravan we travelled North
     and spent a night in Chalcedon
He'd been a scholar in this town
     before the Thracian wars began
     he lost his eye in Istanbul
     and since remained a bitter man

An amber stone with cogs and wheels
     now haunted this old vagrant's stare
     it saw through shadows, flesh and bone
     and shone a light of ember glare
...

-o0o-

If you want to see the rest, please do yourself a favour and grab a copy of eFiction Steampunk. You won't be disappointed.

Regards
Charl Landsberg

Robin

Young Robin is my secret light

A candle in the dead of night

He sits atop my shoulder right

And watches over me

He has no blood, nor has he bone

His flesh is air, his eyes are stone

He wears a crown of abalone

And watches over me

All men fall at his starry gaze

His words work wonders that amaze

His left hand cools, his right ablaze

And watches over me

He moves like smoke upon the breeze

His gentle step upsets the leaves

Each time he saunters through the trees

And watches over me

He only eats honey and spice

He only drinks lemon with ice

And sleeps in a box filled with dice

And watches over me

-o0o-

Meredith the Witch

This is a shitty poem and needs a rewrite.

0 - - 0 - - 0 - - 0 - -
with last line
0 - - 0 - - 0 - - 0 - - 0 - - 0 - - 0 - - - -

The little old Witch with her crooked old nose,

And her wand and her besom and hat,

Had a little old cottage at the end of the forest,

With an Owl and a Fox and a Cat.

Said the Owl to the Cat, "She'd a horrid old Hag."

"She loves casting her spells in the night."

Said the Fox to the Cat, "She's a wonderful Witch,"

"Who can fly through the air, going here, going there, and causing a wonderful fright."

Said the Owl to the Cat, "She's a murderous Bitch,"

"Who killed the carpenter's daughter."

"For the girl loved a man that Witch loved as well,"

"So she captured the girl and killed her."

Said the Fox to the Owl, "Don't be so naive."

"The girl had it in for the Hag."

"She'd run to the town screaming, 'Wicked old Witch!' "

"When she'd found her own lover, beneath Meredith's covers. So She stuffed the girl in a bag."

Said the Owl to them both, "Make haste! Make haste!"

"The Townsfolk are coming here."

"They bring with them a rope for Meredith."

"For killing the girl they held dear."

The Owl and the Fox and the Cat turned to run,

As Meredith popped into view.

She lit up a fire beneath her old pot.

She called on her powers, her hands full of flowers and she cast all of it in the stew.

She said, "Hear me now. You children of men."

"Why have you come to this place I call home."

Said the mayor to her, "Come face us, Witch."

"We bring candle, and bell and a tome."

Said she to the Folk, "Is this magic I see?"

"That you bring to the wood and the field?"

"Fire with fire makes only more fire."

"I would ask you the same, go the way that you came, put your weapons away and yield."

Said the Folk out loud, "Kill the Witch! Kill the Witch!"

"Hang her on the strongest tree."

"Put her evil bones in a shallow ditch."

"Unmarked where none may see."

Said the witch to the folk, "I had hoped you might leave."

And she said in a moan and a sigh.

"I have warned you twice, and never again."

"My forces draw near, I tell you to hear. Go now as your end draws nigh."

But they did not move and Witch just smiled

As she lifted her hands up high,

As the lightning struck and her cauldron popped,

As she flew up into the sky,

As the lightning arched and the spell was cast,

As the mist settled all around,

As the bones of the angry people,

Were scattered all over the ground.

-o0o-