A desperate man burdened,

By desire and shame,

Walks the crossroads of destiny

For fortune and fame.

In the gravel and dirt

He falls to his knees.

And offers all that he is,

And all he will be.

---

Through the cracks of the earth

Come towers of flame.

The lord from beneath

Calls out for his name!

This desperate soul cries.

His tears, a flood.

A pact, it is sealed,

With flesh and with blood.

---

This prayer is answered.

Now years down the road.

This desperate soul bathes

In silver and gold.

But a burning sensation

Still burdens his soul.

Sacrifices made,

Carry, heavy, a toll.

---

Now day into day

He watches his back.

His dreams now haunted

By that unholy pact.

The flames they are howling.

The hounds draw near.

He does all that he can

to keep his mind clear…

-but the hellhounds smell his fear-

---

Then Vice after vice

He loses it all.

His rise to the top

Stumbles into a fall.

He steals, he cheats

He gambles and lies.

The spirits in his bottle

Fuel hellfire in his eyes.

---

Midnight has come.

The clock’s final tick.

The contract is done.

In rides Old Nick.

As a column of flame

Blazes through the floor.

This desperate soul cries…

Just like before.

---

And nothing was left,

But ashes and tears.

And a folk story told

‘Round campfires for years.

How that desperate man burdened

With desire and shame.

Burnt out his soul.

In fortune and flame.

---

Nessie Roswell

Oh to walk within a dream
Oh my very own dream to peep
A grassy green meadow
Full of light -so bright-
Out past the fields of the counting sheep
Where memories wake, whilst I – I sleep.

And Oh! How Joyous and Merry!
What a decorative dream -I dreamt so deep-
I wish I could grasp, no, capture this dream
In a locket, in my pocket
-No.. tight round my neck I would keep-

And the feeling of music,
Oh! Dancing music!
Me off my feet, the music did sweep.
Back over the grassy green hills and meadows.
Over those heaps,
I fell so steep

-The dancing music slowly turns to a weep-

And out of the depths, the ducts!, I leap.
Encased in a droplet, from the corners I creep.
From my eyes to my pillow, the memories seep

waking up in tears

-As if I’d been crying in my sleep-

-Nessie Roswell

We set sail some time ago,
In our little ol’ boat
      We’d take turns to row.
We dropped our anchor
      A sack of sand and stone.
The sea was calm, tranquil
      It was only us, Out there, alone.
There we stayed for years on end
      We made this little boat our home.

And I was happy through days and nights
        And I know you were too
But when the tides began to shift
        I saw the grey surround the blue.
The winds changed course
        The clouds invaded
I tried to fight,
        I tried to evade it!
The storm fast approaching
        But you showed no fear;
You blinked once,
Then twice
        And lightning appeared.

And with those sparks
You severed our anchor,
     Snapped our oars and grazed my throat.
And with the wind
You burdened the sea
     And with the rain you sunk our boat.
And with the clouds
You were carried away
     While I drifted and struggled to stay afloat.

And there I was,
   Lost at sea.
      Only me.
          Stranded.

Overblown.
    Broken home.
        All alone.

             Abandoned.

-Nessie Roswell

As I traversed the vast expanse,
I stumbled upon a lumbering soul.
Her mighty mass cracked the Earth
As she strolled about on her patrol.

She trudged through endless dirt and soil,
Growning larger and larger with each quake.
I chased her down, clawed up her leg,
On her endless journey, I now partake.

I lose my grip with every step,
With every step falls sand and stone.
I climb and climb, she grows and grows,
Across this wasteland we both now roam.

We’ve passed the clouds, she’s taller still.
I hear her groan -each step she takes-
The life I knew, I’ve left behind…
That life I now forsake.

I’ve finally reached up on her back,
It’s flattened as a shelf.
And Balanced safely upon this back,
Lay the world itself.

And as the ground quakes and cracks,
This behemoth grows.
The endless land that is her back,
Now hides the land that was below.

Now I revere my new life here,
She sends me down a passing glance.
As I set out -upon my own-
To traverse this new and vast expanse…

-Nessie Roswell