I came to perform for kings and queens,
for noble knights and merry men.
To entertain the royal court,
I was far richer then.

But there are thieves among them,
this aristocratic lot,
and as I went about the room
they stole money from my pot!

The first thief came and went
as quick as a rat could be.
The second thief, though not as swift,
stole with a smile of glee.
The third thief was not so sly
and stole for all to see.

I came back to find my pot empty.

I know it was you!
You royal few!
I curse your thieving hands!
But the king, he rang the sentry bell.
Then all the guards, under it’s spell,
chased me from their lands!

And so the night went on.
The royals wined and dined.
They danced and sang in joyful song…
until they heard that chime!

For the handsome knight, the noble knight
His throat began to close!
He couldn’t take one single breath
and fear among them rose.

and then he dropped dead!

All the guests were mortified.
They cried for this noble soul.
The king and queen knelt down beside,
then once more they heard that toll.

The royal pair, distraught they were
their tears began to flood,
But as the king looked at his wife
her tears turned to blood!

and then she dropped dead!

All the guests have left the grounds
the king now sits alone.
He waits all night,
until midnight,
to hear that awful tone…

and then he drops dead.

• Nessie Roswell

The next step that I take

Will be the furthest I have stood.

Across my face,

An icy wind.

Below my feet

lay stone and wood.

–

Along the tracks,

Of steel and rail,

The old towns are detained.

And though I moved,

Through rain and hail,

My shadows have remained.

–

And so it went,

Throughout the nights,

Leaving ghosts within my wake.

To haunt those moments,

left behind,

Life’s endless give and take.

–

That icy wind

invades my lungs.

My lips are cold and dry.

By day the clouds 

Lock up the sun

By night, a different sky.

–

I hear the buzz.

It rides the wind.

This city like a hive.

The souls I meet

Along the way

Will keep my ghosts alive.

–

Westward bound

The gulls’ crying sound

That icy wind doth blow.

The wheel turns round

With magic found

Embalmed in a rainbow glow.

–

To the east I am faced

With a city encased

In a wall of living stone.

Whose cracks tell stories,

Of deaths and glories,

And my ghost will not haunt there alone.

–

I cross the land

And passing by

Are stone and grass and tree.

That icy wind 

Is softer now,

The sun has broken free.

–

I’m calling down

To London Town 

This train is headed south.

It’s famous eye 

stares down on me.

The Thames, its gushing mouth. 

–

That icy wind 

She’s back once more,

As the sun enters the Glen.

Upon these waters

A secret shared

And in the Loch, I am born again.

–

I stare across 

this gothic town,

Its castle stood upon the hill.

And up and down,

That cobbled path,

My ghost is walking still.

–

I cross the land,

One final stride,

Passing fields anew.

Back into 

that city hive 

And this time, passing through.

–

That icy wind

Feels colder now

As I breathe the ocean in.

The streets we walk

Are filled with song

And my spirit loves to sing.

–

My journey ends

The dance is done

To home my flesh is bound,

But waltzing along,

That icy wind,

My spectres can be found.

–

For We haunt this land,

My chilling ghosts,

Dawned in scarf and coat.

We trod it’s earth

And we drink it’s worth.

Guzzled down our throats.

–

I harken back 

To moments shared,

the souls that touched my own.

My skin yearns for

That northern air

That once chilled me to the bone.

–

But I’ll dwell not on 

that icy wind, 

That glacial howl that blows unkind.

And I’ll raise my glass

In memory of

those ghosts I left behind. 

–

Slàinte mhath!

Nessie Roswell

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

The engineers were first when the hard water struck.
A flood down below, the crew members stuck.
Their voices were heard, but the water grew tall.
Their screams were now drowned, the cold water swallowed them all.

The early settlers alone in their head.
Grew tired of the night and went straight to bed.
Tossing and turning all through the night.
The cold water crept in, they couldn’t put up a fight.
For the water was quick, but their sleep was faster.
How could they sense the incoming disaster?
It swallowed their mattress and then them along too…
Watch out those above, the cold water is coming for you.

Warning bells ring for the incoming flood
The cold water grows taller, it’s coming for blood.
Climbing the stairs to the party above
As the guests cling tightly to the objects they love
But the water grows tall and taller still
Their screams are soon drowned, their lungs start to fill…and fill… and….

The captain stands firm. “What the hell am I thinking?”
He can’t fight the flood, and the ship, she is sinking.
He grabs for the wheel as the cold water strikes him
If he is to go down, he is to go down fighting.
The water grew higher, pulling him to the depths
The captain struggles to the surface, to catch his last breaths

And whilst being dragged
He shut his eyes to pray
To his lord in the sky
He had one last thing to say,

A captain always goes down with his ship,
And we were all captains today.

-Nessie Roswell

What lies in the dark
Is twisted and bent.
Eerily creeping,
-Wandering-
Hiding.

In corners we dare not seek,
Whispering malice unto unconscious thought.

A pale entity
-Moulded- Shoved into blackened crevices,
Those which fearful minds choose to obscure.

What hides in the dark
Is a hollowed shadow.
Lurking,
-Gnawing-
Feasting.

on slices,
-Pieces of essence- left to descend t’wards it’s black, hollow crypt.

A chained beast,
-Performing-
Isolated in it’s own gothic circus.
At the mercy of a master, oblivious to it’s existence.

What dies in the dark
Is broken and weak.
Crawling,
-Crying-
A writhing mass of shattered bones
And scattered flesh.

Born to fear the light
That which many beings
of varying form or plight

Have found comfort in.

-Nessie Roswell

Burning blue

Burning bright

Tearing through my starry night,

Sudden hues

Of Flashing light

Burning out

Fading

Falling into nihility

-Nessie Roswell

Curiosity is the first step to enlightenment

It did not kill the cat

It opened its eyes

It transformed the cat

The cat killed itself

-Nessie Roswell

– …. . / -.-. .- – / ..-. .- -.- . -.. / .. – .—-. … / -.. . .- – ….