Promptly 4, 5 and 6

Mysteries of the Night

Mysteries of the Night

From the black emptiness of the darkened window
comes the sound that freezes the soul,
a shriek of such anguish and sorrow
that the listener, no longer safe and ensconced,
curls up in the bed with dread and fear,
while nightmares toy with the thoughts
riding upon the echoes of that tortured cry
and questions arise from the deep.

Is it the wail of a lost child, hungry and far from home?
The scream of a wandering banshee wrenched from a heart of stone?
The shade of a long dead traveller set upon by brigands?
A last hopeless call for aid from some soul entrapped in the night?

No, that sound that haunts your dreams ever after
is but the hunting call of the fox.


Line count: 14
Free verse
For Promptly Poetry Challenge, Week 33 2025
Prompt: Use this title for this weeks poem: Mysteries of the Night.