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Every age, every man, every culture 

Has a gleaming, shining anointed figure

No claw of lion, nor beak of vulture 

Could break the great fixture 

Of which rode on its horse

Clash or clang or crack or crunch

Stalwart standing indefatigable

It will not warp or bend or hunch

Far above the manipulatable

Nature of man

Yet not beyond.

For each plate, forged and hardened as it is 

There is soothe a gap in the cold metal bond 

Anon found the false promise of immortality 

Is shattered faster than the protection ever would

Wendigo

Wendigo Wendigo Wendigo 

Stories around campfires

And videos online

But none of it's real, right?

Wendigo Wendigo Wendigo

I can say it all night long

I'm not scared

As if he's gonna show, right?

Wendigo Wendigo Wendigo

What's there to fear?

Some deer-headed Bigfoot

In the middle of nowhere, right?

Wendigo Wendigo Wendigo

There's nothing outside

My doors are locked

Nothing at all, right?

Wendigo Wendigo Wendigo 

There's someone at the door 

l'll be right back

The Mothman

As the Mothman exists alone

Understanding and understood only by himself

The mountain grooves lead him

Up and down, left and right

To where he can be set free from his thoughts

For he will find his light again.

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The grass dances with every gust of wind

Crickets sing within the blades

Lightning bugs blink away in the wild

Salamanders reside underneath the waves

Then comes a child carrying a jar

Wishing to catch some of the magic

After a few tries the child is victorious holding magic within the jar

After the child has had their fill they release the little bit of joy

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The flower blooms in the warning light

The warning just before the Sun rises to ignite the sky

And set aflame all my ghosts

The petals unfurl in the dim blue

The blue that drowns the world

That I swim in peacefully

I cannot bear to see it rebuild its walls

To witness the end of a beauty 

Which is why I hide from mirrors

But, in this moment, I am free from all burdens

The flower is my soul

My gentle glowing soul

Easy breathing must end eventually

Light creeps over the horizon and sets the day in motion

It is not an evil, for it knows not what it

is doing

Merely a force excreted by the Sun

A beam juts itself over the ridge, scorching the heart of my soul

All at once the end manifests itself

The petals of my beloved flower tuck in

Like a mother wrapping her young

All the world can see me in my lost and fearful state

A graveyard, a haunted land, I am the

heart of

My breath hitches and dies to

a shallow wisp

For a moment I was

free, strong, and graceful

No fight resonates within my form

Complacent,

I shield my face from the rays and join the ghosts around me,

hoping that if I let go

I may fade to grey

never to breathe

again.

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Screaming songs without a care in the world 

Children piled into a van, tired but excited 

Cantering down a rocky road in mid summer 

Off to see something spoke of in legends 

Brown Mountain, famous in the High Country 

Standing proud, a timeless giant

Cool mountain air weaving like a scarf

Around the peaks and through the locks of trees and laurels

A year after, a lovely time 

Full moon shining bright

Gazing at the sky, hugged in peace 

Lights twinkle above, ones which are explained

Thanks be to the Mountain for being kind that night

Two years after, a disaster 

Crying in the van, mid-trip stop 

Stayed for hardly any time at all 

Promised sight of the unexplained 

Left with disappointment and canceled team-building

But this year, happy memories, though hardly remembered

Dark and cramped, though happy and alive 

A blue light, drifting through the night 

Like a boat afloat at sea

Different than the stars, yes 

Right there, for a fleeting moment

Pointing, whispered shouts 

Another light! A white glimmer

Gazing in awe, I marveled over the lights 

How special they graced me with their presence

Some say the Brown Mountain lights aren't real

But I, oh fortunate I, have viewed their beauty with my own eyes

Kudzu

It engulfs the south.

It eats away at old farms, power lines, and buildings.

It comforts those who have grown accustomed to seeing it in their backyard.

A sense of familiarity,

and way to know that they're home.

Falling asleep in its arms, you'd wake up entangled.

It holds you close, not wanting you to leave it stranded once again.

"Don't leave, I'm here to help"

It offers itself to you.

You'd rip away, with no promise to return.

It will remain within the south, consuming what is left.

Witch Doctor

"Witch doctor with no more control

Driven by greed, you sold your soul 

Restlessly, you hunger and you crave.

A fool’s attempt to escape their grave.

Vast white ghoul, who haunts all my dreams,

Your Sharp claws tear right into me.

Wretched Crawler, hearing your screams, 

From your hell, I hope to be free.

Hellish hound, the pastor’s bane, 

Guarding your undead domain,

Blood red eyes, and jet black fur, 

Whose wrath I hope to never incur."

Moonshiners

Moonshiners 

Dedicated to creating something

That could only harm them 

A small scale disease

Spreading like wildfire 

Drinking what their pride 

Until they drunk their lives away 

Quick and quicker 

The corn liqueur making their eyes

Dark and darker 

Until they couldn’t drink anymore 

But there is always free drinks after death.

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I wish we didn’t have to make up things

To keep nature special 

I wish we could just walk through the woods

And see the beauty in the thousands of insects, 

And the lush moss 

And say, “This is enough

This is enough for me and this is enough for us.”

But instead we spend hours looking for killer shapeshifters and insane moth men

Instead of taking a breath 

And saying that we have 

And what we can see

Is and always was enough