The Vampire Bride
       
Lips of cherry berry wine, hair of gold is spun
Kiss the stars and ride the moon
And back before the sun
      
      I leave at dawn to earn my bread
      She sleeps the sleep of the living dead
      The windows shuttered from the light
      Freedom only comes by night
      Remember what the preacher said
      Prisoner of the marriage bed
      Bound to keep me comforted 
      When I hunger keep me fed
      I so large and she so slight
      But she knows how to make things right
      
A tiny hand to hold in mine, our two lives now are one
Kiss the stars and ride the moon
And back before the sun
      
      When I return her sleep has fled
      Her frown is now a smile instead
      She has an endless appetite
      And in the dusk her grip is tight
      This lovely maiden I have wed
      She tosses back her curly head
      Wraps me in her covering spread
      Prisoner of the marriage bed
      We laugh and love in pure delight
      For she knows how to make things right
      
I dream the stars all in a line, the full moon has begun
Kiss the stars and ride the moon
And back before the sun
      
      The hours of night have quickly sped
      And I awake awash in red
      The sheets are crimson over white
      She's sleeping, my exhausted sprite
      No evidence that she has bled
      Or from which wound the blood was shed
      So far from home the moon-star led
      And so returned her to my bed
      Exhausted from her frenzied flight
      And she may never make things right
      
Lips of cherry berry wine, hair of gold is spun
Kiss the stars and ride the moon
And back before the sun


(First published in Snoozine - 2024)