After The Stroke of Midnight

After The Stroke of Midnight

written by: Ann Christine Tabaka

@TabakaChris

After the stroke of midnight
when most are fast asleep
into the ancient graveyard
stealthy he does creep

Seeking out the marker
of a long forgotten soul
he digs into the hard earth
to obtain his unholy goal

He collects the fleshless bones
and gathers them to his sack
then quietly leaves the scene
with his booty on his back

Once inside his dark room
a single candle he does light
sorting all his treasures
working late into the night

Femora, tibiae, and ulnae
plus other skeletal remains
sorted by type and stacked
with such thought out pains

Grinding them into powders
for poultices and potions
carefully carved magic charms
and other ghoulish notions

After the stroke of midnight
another night of work begins
he sold his soul and must toil
to atone for all his sins

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Ann Christine Tabaka

SEPTEMBER 2018 / MAY 2021 AUTHOR OF THE MONTH at Spillwords.com

Ann Christine Tabaka was nominated for the 2017 Pushcart Prize in Poetry. She is the winner of Spillwords Press 2020 Publication of the Year, her bio is featured in the “Who’s Who of Emerging Writers 2020 and 2021,” published by Sweetycat Press. She is the author of 14 poetry books, and 1 short story book. She lives in Delaware, USA. She loves gardening and cooking.Chris lives with her husband and four cats. Her most recent credits are: Eclipse Lit, Carolina Muse, Sparks of Calliope; The Closed Eye Open, North Dakota Quarterly, Tangled Locks Journal, Wild Roof Journal, The American Writers Review, Burningword Literary Journal, Muddy River Poetry Review, The Silver Blade, Pomona Valley Review, West Texas Literary Review, The Hungry Chimera, Sheila-Na-Gig, Fourth & Sycamore.

Latest posts by Ann Christine Tabaka (see all)

• Going Fishing - April 7, 2022
• Circle Songs - January 15, 2022
• The Life That I Have Led - September 27, 2021