Dreams and spells coveted in the abyss of shadows where phantoms crept,
Wandering through a realm half-wept.
The moon hung low; its face was pale,
And whispered of a ghostly tale.
The sky became gloomy, the stars were dim,
As winds sang out a mournful hymn.
Every path was lost in endless nights,
Beneath a sky that held no light.
Through twisted woods, the wanderers found a gate,
Its iron bars were wrought with fate.
A voice called out, both near and far,
Like echoes from a fallen star.
“Step forth,” it said, “into the dream,
Where silence reigns and shadows gleam.”
Those who crossed the threshold felt the spell,
A touch of darkness known too well.
The world within was strange and wild,
Where reason’s grip was swiftly beguiled.
The ground was ash, the trees were bone,
Their branches cracked in a sorrowful tone.
A figure stood with eyes like fire,
A sorceress of dark desire.
She raised her hand, the spell was cast,
And time itself could not hold fast.
The dreamers drifted then, their senses blurred,
In realms where whispered words were heard.
Each secret spoke of death’s embrace,
Of haunted dreams and hollow grace.
The stars fell down like frozen tears,
Unveiling long-forgotten fears.
Intense was the feeling of the pull of ancient woe,
Beneath the weight of night’s cold glow.
The sorceress turned, her gaze met the others,
A silent bond both fierce and delicate like smothers.
She beckoned close, her fingers curled,
And swirled those unfortunates through her shadowed world.
A beginning of a frantic dance upon a sea of mist,
Where every wing gust felt like a tryst,
With darkness draped in velvet black,
And the time that twisted, bent, and cracked.
The spell then broke; the dream grew thin,
Those delusionals found themselves where they’d once been.
The gate was gone, the night was still,
But in every heart, there lingered a chill.
For though every heart left that cursed realm,
Its shadows clung; they overwhelmed.
And in every soul, dreams and spells were bound,
Whispered secrets lost, never to be found.
Esther Elizabeth Racah
