The Devil's Horseman

This poem was written in response to the Rattle® Poetry Ekphrastic Challenge for December 2024 and was ultimately not selected. You can find more information here.

https://www.rattle.com/ekphrastic/

The Devil’s Horseman

“The Chupacabra prowls the desert sands

While the Skunk Ape stalks the swaps

The pine trees hide the Big Foot creature

And we have the Devil’s Horseman”

-

“He stands taller than a man on two legs

But his hands and feet are hooves

He bears the head of a haunted steed

With eyes as red as blood”

-

“He lurks within the tall grass fields

That surround the old stone quarry

The one that fills with water every spring

After a long drenching rain”

-

“The legend says he was a traveler

Who fell in and nearly died

And crying out to be saved

Was rescued by the Devil for the price of his soul”

-

“And if you are unlucky enough

To lock eyes with him from afar

He will follow you home and in the night

Will steal you from your bed ”

-

“You can hear him as he approaches

A low whinny and the plodding of his hooves

You will be devoured by his long white fangs

And never seen again!”

-

The evening, our grandfather scolded us for our disobedience

We had been told to not hang around

With those strange neighborhood kids

Or listen to their older sister tell us such outlandish stories

But we were especially in trouble for venturing

So far from home to look for such a heathen thing

-

Later that night, we tried to sleep, but our minds ran wild

Clinging to our teddy bears, we were frozen with fear

Was that just a branch outside?

Was that just the whistling wind?

Or was it the whinny and the plodding hooves,

Of the Devil’s Horseman outside our windowpane?

Submitted under MRB