My Little Black Heart

Love, my Darkling
Moon's spellbinding Muse
Delight this Soul
However you choose

Big eyes you have
No one can compare
You dazzle and lure
What big smile you wear

Before you waits
Sacrificial lambs
Long daggers palm
The tall, black door slams

Be still, my little black heart
There's much beauty in the dark
Share it with me
Be still, my little black heart
All which beats, I give to you
Do what you will

Perfumed air drifts
Patchouli and sex
Worshippers vie
Flesh altars for hex

Cabernet kiss
Rocking, black lair thrills
Low music grinds
And the chalice spills

Be still, my little black heart
There's much beauty in the dark
Share it with me
Be still, my little black heart
All which beats, I give to you
Do what you will

© Kay Irvin

Midnight in Bordeaux

Burgundy once met with an airy, lavender eve.
Iris petals and balloons, floated an Autumn breeze.
Scarlet oak and sycamore lined sleepy, shady paths.
Ticket booths warm-welcomed crowds buzzing like honeybees,
Carnival enraptured, captured to please.
Sugar rimmed glasses, cherry jubilees.

Overarch were old posters, snapping, waving us in.
A magic man drew his wand like a sword wielding knight.
'Peek unique!', hollered out, 'There's a freakshow on the left, -
For a token, peep the showgirl, burlesque on the right, -
Step right up,... the funhouse mirrors ... won't bite!'
But height was fright, crept from a stranger's sight.

'Round I raced, footsteps chased, following my every move.
Past the corner, popgun shout, 'Win a prize!', I did go.
His painted mask led terror to imagination.
I thought,... this stranger, gone watching, stalking me,... I know.
Wicked comes sure, as crisp, maroon leaves blow.
And Fall is eerie, Midnight in Bordeaux.

'Don't be afraid, hear your fortune!', beckoned a mystic.
'Gypsy', said I, 'tell my tarot, gaze the crystal through!'
Frankincense burned, a black cat purred as the lady hissed,
'You won't meet a stranger,... But a stranger will meet you -
Onyx eyes ... with fire in the blood, anew -
Tale, legend, fable,... but it all ... be true!'

Every good thing must come to an end, 'tis honest phrase -
Tents billowed as wings, while cotton candy swirled to slack.
Ferris wheel lights went out, slowly one by one, 'til pitch,
And carousel, wild horses ran free of their track.
I saw visions that can't be taken back.
As still, chill gazed ... the stranger's eyes of black.

Always, I had wondered, what lasts beyond day's bright stay, -
Is anything immortal, when life unfolds to dust?
Such unknown, dark delights were only ever riddle.
But the unnamed gave answer mid season shades of rust.
And to this stranger's side pulled starry lust.
He magnetized me, easily to trust.

Under an alabaster moon, I sighed, 'I am home.'
The stranger's eyes rolled over red, when fed crimson kiss.
And then, whose whisper kindled my heartbeat with cradle, -
'Betray and farewells be pain you won't miss,-
Though once were tears, think not of the abyss; -
'Strigoi are kindred, born to endless bliss.'

Xiphoid, twin touch siphoned Summer unto its death.
Long after pitiful decay, some will thrive from sieve.
We're carnival monsters, nosferatu, shadow-dreams,
Time is the love, though kill know spill paired by sharpened shiv.
Bond is the blood,... this world has much to give.
Now, I with him,...each victim screams, 'They live!'

© Kay Irvin

~ About going to an Autumn carnival,
meeting a vampire and becoming one.
I wanted to do something a little different
with this poem.
The first letter of each stanza (top to bottom)
spells the word: B.O.R.D.E.A.U.X.

Necromancer

I.
Not a tempest in a teapot
But distant plane, some have forgot
And it won't do, and it won't do
I call forth the shadows,... peer through

II.
Hello or good bye, yes or no
Planchette is placed, chalice Bordeaux
And with a heart-shaped, little plank
Welcome from world, vast and dank

III.
Eleven : eleven blesses
Hazel eyes and raven tresses
Our thirteenth chime awaits nearby
Yes or no, hello or good bye

IV.
Spark the candle, lend to my voice
Spectral portal, tend with your choice
Let me be your enchanted host
Show me the things, you covet most

V.
Memories, recorded vision
Lightning strike, be your incision
To this side and ready wonder
By flesh, blood and steady thunder

VI.
Tell your tale and well, I shall scribe
Prolific journals, sweet imbibe
Slate poised, unrehearsed sessions
Sate my thirst, unriddle questions

VII.
Beyond life, death and mortal coil
The folds of time, unearthly soil
Flotsam souls, mine to thine now merge
Old and kindred, shared lonesome dirge

VIII.
Terror-spurned from your window's sash
Perhaps others would dread and dash
Whose niche is that of a jackal
Aging, sure as youth will crackle

IX.
But I invoke thee, bring cold swirls
Fling opulent orbs, dancing pearls
We live but shells, reckoning task
Beckoning quench of unknown cask

X.
Vent, weep, whisper, scream and opine
Slither, unwither, serpentine
Unleash,... I beseech, unravel
Crawl from secrets, splay the gravel

XI.
What say you, what of portent dares ?
What descent creaks upon the stairs ?
Disconnected stride, bid token
Enter, center bide, unbroken

XII.
Unveil what cannot be unseen
Strip the night, unto toll, thirteen
Whatsoever pitch envelop
Free, clear as portraits develop

XIII.
I call forth shadows, touch my veins
Love and care, without harm nor chains
Exodus, black room, sheltered gloam
If so inclined, make here, your home

(c) Kay Irvin

Note:
[courtesy: Wikipedia]
For other uses, see Necromancer ...
Necromancy /ˈnɛkrɵˌmænsi/ is a claimed form of magic
- Contemporary séances, channeling and Spiritualism
verge on necromancy when supposedly invoked spirits
are asked to reveal future events or secret information.

Gemini Night

Love the night, hate the night
Bite my lip, sting and feeling so right
Pierce, warm and elusive
It's temperamental blade
Baby, it cuts both ways

Extreme good, extreme bad
Wind me up, keep me high, black-steel-clad
Time's a double-edged sword
Blood and tears, hot and cold
Baby, let slow graze stroll

Evocative, little secrets scoff
Their potion-like pressures set you off
Forget guilt, get lost and seize that hilt
Dual, inhibitions flow
Make a minx, take a doe

Tomorrow you can forgive yourself
Pleasure and pain surrenders from stealth
Alter-ego, spirited Gemini
How both sides, each deny
How both sides, each deny

(c) Kay Irvin

Darkly Quill

(Darkly quill)
Nothing comforts darkness more than darkness

Curves,... lines and veins, sepia dreams (dreary-starred)
Inkwell,... flesh and canvas, Gothic avant-garde
A portrait composed, blackness upon the quill

Isn't it too real? (too much reality)
How the profound, chambered confusion can kill
(Deeply) ... not meant to be split second-sated
Beyond an instant, weighted, fated long feel

(Darkly quill)
Nothing comforts darkness more than darkness

Vellum scrolls lay, morose eloquence unfurls
Creeping, note beats blot paper with sable pearls
Melancholia, blackness upon the quill

Isn't it too real? (too much reality)
How the profound, chambered confusion can kill
(Deeply) ... not meant to be split second-sated
Beyond an instant, weighted, fated long feel

(Darkly quill)
Nothing comforts darkness more than darkness

(c) Kay Irvin

... for Edgar Allan Poe
And also for all the Dark/Gothic writers
Of Lyrics, Poetry and Music

Ankh (A Vampire's Dream)

Oceans of time
Everlasting
(oceans of time)

Nightfall, my home
Day be the spade
Sunrise, sunset
To evening shade
As the crow flies
Black as his breast
'Neath is heartbeat
Mine cannot nest

Oceans of time
Everlasting
(oceans of time)

Life blood, light dreams
Shan't meet or save
This empty soul
Immortal, grave
Yet, sharing hush
Glint gathering
Undamned and free
As the crow's wing

Oceans of time
Everlasting
(oceans of time)

I will search for you, my love

My course is straight
As the crow flies
I will search for you, my love

Oceans of time
Everlasting
(oceans of time)

(c) Kay Irvin

Feeling Through The Dark

Such swirling to the edge of madness
Such tense, boney hands and tortured mind
Numb and unassuming is a mask
Just a soulless darkling there to find

But all the times so repressed have torn
And a lion from the lamb is born
Feeling through the dark

Shadows cast to a 4 am wall
Contorted when the night terrors splay
Those tired, mired hands thrash like claws
Those crooked shapes scrape demons away

From all the times so repressed ... roars warn
And a lion from the lamb is born

Dark places, condescending faces
Come rushing, crushing, mocking lost hopes
Finally, once more
I am at the end of my ropes
Feeling through the dark

Oh, call down the courage
And the lion lives
Don't give up, don't give in
Ready the bold spikes
Let the fight begin
Again and again
(again and again)

(c) Kay Irvin

Epic

Say what you mean, mean what you say
Not some tomorrow, my love and sorrow
For today

Because you play with surety
Because you seem confused and hurt with deny
Because as well as I could have you, I don't
No answers why, no trust and tie
We should try
(we should try)

Say what you mean, mean what you say
Not for never, my love and harsh sever
From halfway

Because you tease all my insecurity
Because you flirt and contradict
Because perfect as you could have me, you don't
Not blissful high, not the epic
So classic
(we could be)

July breeze, wind chimes
Gliding a sultry fix for Summer nights
Autumn gilt fingers
Feeling, finding snowflakes and Christmas lights
We can cite
(we can cite)
How love's worth the fight
Tell me ... we're all right
Show me ... we're all right

(c) Kay Irvin

Black Sheep

The outcast, the outsider ... looking in
You're blessed, I am poison
Pushed away to beg scraps at the fringes
Sour tinges

You position yourself for gratitude
You're a dear one, subdued
Gossiping behind everyone's back
Comments crack

Strange, peculiar but snaps summon ... I'm called
You're gold, I am blackballed
I wanted to please you and you used that
Mock is chat
(spreading like wildfire)

Pretty lies ... I collected
I wanted to believe them
I filled them deep in my heart
And dressed up disappointment
Pretending your loyalty
Pretty lies ... I told myself
Divide ripped reverie apart
And I gathered splintered dreams
But everything scattered
Shattered so cruel, you're too cool
For a loser's emptiness
You made me feel like nothing
(Don't be shy, aren't you proud?)

I embrace not belonging
My acceptance screams nothing
Your excuses mean nothing
I was never good enough
And that barren, brutal truth
Is gut-wrenching nothingness

For so long, this lost soul had no reply
For so long, this reject let snide jab by
This freak at last speaks to let the pent up go
You seem surprised how much pain overflows

Hypocrisy and betrayal (you reap it)
You can keep it, I won't be hurt (anymore)
You use judgement to vent your own frustration
Reasoning via misfit vindication

I'm the wolf, raged, uncaged while you stay fenced
I'm the rock you broke your sorrows against
When you did whisper ... "What a waste, what a shame"
Damned at best is ironic, darkly name

I am the anthem of anger
Silence is dead, I rant your telltale spite
Drag your intentions to the light and out
Lift your soft rumors right up to clear shout
You're sweet, the rose red, I am wretched thorn
I am the black sheep, I will not conform

Nothingness
But I was here
(I was here)

(c) Kay Irvin

Gothic Victorian

Flames are on the leaves
The waters are still
Wistful presence grieves
Riddle charms surreal
Can you feel, can you feel?

There is calm before the storm
Something dies, something is born
And thunder lives
(she is)

Hazel eyes know pain
They look into you
Lightning splits the rain
And she reaches through
Believe ... do you, do you?

Nightmares chill the bone
And there's no way out
You are not alone
She's heart of the house
Do you doubt, do you doubt?

Climb up to the thirteenth stair
And she will be waiting there
She knows you are so weary
Her soft touch may seem eerie
She knows you can understand
Love is the take of her hand

And she is strangely comforting
(she is)
Dark hair, deep stare and black lace
Dark soul offering embrace
And she is strangely comforting
(she is)
The piano plays tonight
Chime tolls long, time come alight
Thirteen candles burning bright

And thunder lives
(she is)
Gothic Victorian
Sweet flesh of porcelain
(she is, she is)

(c) Kay Irvin

~ In part - for Sarah Winchester
And the Winchester Mystery House
The "13" is also for my Mother,
Born in Springtime (13th day)
Often, when I write, 13 will be mentioned
(my favorite number)
"I love you Mom and I'm thankful for you every day."

Phoenix Rising

You so kept me spinning and reeling
And it took everything I had
To hide feeling
Even though you were slowly killing me

My hands were chained, my heart was twisted
And I knew what I would have to brave
To be lifted
From heavy path and aftermath to be

I had to give and prove
I had to see it done
To know deep in my heart
Trying bled till dying
And what remained was none

Your angry voice left me quite assured
What I had to do was before me
Oh, though obscured
Ruins lay jagged and unforgiving

From ground of burnt love, I rallied nerve
To push my footsteps, fierce into flight
What I deserve
Is the chance your attempt denied living

And dust swirled
Scorched by flame
Seared with blame
But just the same
Goodbye was on the wing
Upon my leave
Upon last time I'll ever hear you call my name

Last time was the last time I'll hear you call my name
Goodbye rides on the wing
There, it will always stay
With release to my back
A new horizon bursts
Far risen from the gray

(c) Kay Irvin

The Ghosts and Autumn Tambourine

Perhaps travelers all in at twilight
Searching for leaves and bed to rest a dream
So I thought, as October's playful child
And I crept the fortress of their lit scene
Flickering candlelight and tambourine

All souls gathered round a high bonfire
They offered flowers kin the May month green
For the cool mist of the changing season
Left the briar thick but the garden lean
Petals showered down from the tambourine

Coven choir sang with arousing voices
For to the depth and all the woods between
I was so captured with rustic beauty
Nearly forgetting the eve, Halloween
A haunting sound fell from the tambourine

Dusky dance and images illusion
Filled my mind but was loving gift to glean
Starry candles illuminated peace
All Hallows stirred shadows, casting forth serene
Chanting, chanting the world and blessed be

(c) Kay Irvin

Moonlight Spirals

The velvet, black curtains now unfold
The body moves from habit of pace
All the hours have singed with their gold
The mind is dark ground, lonely and cold
Moonlight spirals some slit with its grace

The soul is void needing some fill
Heart is broken by shards of deceit
The earth and its edges seem surreal
Where denial could wander and steal
Moonlight spirals some dust to defeat

The stars sedate, all anger does rest
Weary hands lift to wipe tired pain
A hidden thaw emerges the crest
The stolid melts a secluded nest
Moonlight spirals the prelude of rain

(c) Kay Irvin

Wolf Song

New starlight glistens
Wise moon spell listens
Pack is restless and prowls
Pitch-dark unveils rise
Wild wakes midnight eyes
Illumination howls

There will be loyalty
There will be intensity
I will burn through you
And you will burn through me
Old souls will once again be
(Kindred)

Breeze carries bouquet
Closer ... circles bay
Shapeshifters throw shadows
Heartbeats stead mirror
Nearer and nearer
How deeply pulse echoes

She-wolf must find mate
Cold night must celebrate
Song will uplift its head
Breath will spray from mouths of red
And our deathless love will free
Old souls will once again be
(Kindred)

Moon spell never knows end
Timeless eyes ever suspend
Burning, glowing
Sweet blood flowing

(c) Kay Irvin

Betray

There's a shifting in the eyes
As they turn and look away
Then ... reveals a shrug of chill
When its sender schemes betray
The worst of love-breaking aim
Stabs with how the once so dear
Bends to cryptic and silence
Spineless posed and insincere

(c) Kay Irvin

Beloved

Love, if I can't find you here
Maybe on the other side
I can feel you, I sense you
Sometimes I think I hear you calling
Through nightmares
Where my fear and fight collide
Telling me to wake
Telling me ... "don't break"
Lingering the deep
I brave reckless sleep
To reach past screams, to unmask dreams
For the ghost I've wed
Beloved
Forever

Most others have settled down
Others have matched peace and fate
I can feel you, I sense you
Sometimes I think I catch your shadow
Through lost days
Where my soul searches for mate
Stirring with the trees
Stirring with the breeze
You're the only one
Sentio cor meum
Feel me with you, I am ghost too
For the haunting led
Beloved
Forever

Love, in this life or on the other side
Sentio cor meum
Semper et in aeternum
Into all time

Found within each other
Bound within each other
My love
In omne tempus
Into all time

(c) Kay Irvin

Translation (latin):
[from my understanding and as I intended, here]
Sentio cor meum - Feel my heart
Semper et in aeternum - Always and Forever
In omne tempus - Into all time

Haunting Promise

There, among the ginger, Autumn leaves
Where in cinder hues dance eerie eves
With crisp edges shadow gliding rush
Blown to your door and scattering crush
Know ... I am but a whisper away

There, amid the late, October rain
Where chill billows mist to window stain
With some formation memory holds
Inscribed reach through your slit curtain folds
Know ... I am but a whisper away

You are not mad, who dream when awake
The witching hour makes no mistake
There, as the tall clock chimes thirteenth bell
You will find the haunt that promised dwell

There, within the hazing before dawn
Where to morning envies ghostly swan
With cast drifting between gleam and gloom
You will not be alone in your room
Know ... I am but a whisper away

(c) Kay Irvin

Rust Never Bleeds

All possible care purely concedes
Still rough are his words
Rust never bleeds
A smile teases reach, hinting need
But hard is his tone
Rust never bleeds

The cruel attraction, I always plead
My heart is a feast, his hunger feeds
He pushes embrace but pulls to be freed
He lies ... bittersweet
Rust never bleeds

He strolls the corridors of my mind
Among darkly slants his steps confine
Crushing dead flowers, embedding more seeds
He raises a brow, a stem stabs its reed

I challenge the reason bound in his creed
and stand in the numb, his voice leads
Love must be felt
Rust never bleeds

(c) Kay Irvin

Cobweb

Silver
Thread
Arms
Sleek
Sensitive
Tempting
Interlacing my throbbing heart
And
Your face
Celebrating
Then
Scattering
As I
Untangle

(c) Kay Irvin

Cinnamon

Want and need is a kiss
For you and no other
Cinnamon
And trembling, warm blood

Gossamer, shivering touch
Feel electricity
Push and pull
Spidering every vein

Cold, cruel, lonely fears
Fade, now, with covet
Reckon is here
Sure kindred, pure destiny

Want and need is a kiss
For you and no other
Hot blooded
Raw, real, awake, alive

Air-spun, endearing whisper
Flow with take and rush
Blush-hungry crave
Taste sweet, eternal love

(c) Kay Irvin