As lampposts light a storm-struck street
Through town centre, thick with sleet
Downtrodden graveyard by the church
Plays the harmonies of death's lurch1
Do they breathe? One questions they
Through wood carved six feet under may
Still hear the cries of morning ravens
Whispering lies that brought termination2
Coffins stir through nights where words
Under dirt, are their screams heard
Clawing velvet to escape the musk,
The smell of flesh turning to dust3
We can hear them in the morn,
Scratching from inside the torn
And tattered coffins that they live
Inside of, they shall not forgive4
And though bells ring, we hear them oft,
Not all are here to cry for the lost,
For suffocating corpses cry
Hoping to be saved 'fore they die...5
Author notes
If you have ever researched or found any information about the history of England, you may have come across some facts regarding graveyards and bone-houses. In the 1500's, local folks began to run out of places to bury people and so they would dig up the coffins of other people and take the bones to bone-houses and then reuse the grave that that body previously occupied. When the coffins were opened up, one in every twenty-five of them had scratch marks on the inside, indicating that the person had been alive when buried. The local folk then began to tie a string with a bell on the other end to the corpse's wrist and out of the coffin and up through the ground and someone would have to sit and wait in the graveyard all night in case the bell rang, signifying that the person was still alive.
("Saved by the Bell"... a well-known saying.)
Creepy, huh? The worst part is that these events actually happened.
A contest entry
- Darkness Falls, A day another (thoughtful passion) by Cari Cullen.
380 points, ended May 18, 2008, 6 entries
Honorable mention
• next story in this contest, remove from contest - An poetry contest for all the poets out there by xoxKokaygirlxox.
190 points, ended July 13, 2008, 15 entries
• next story in this contest, remove from contest - Under the Moonlight Contest by GrimDeath.
350 points, ended September 5, 2008, 15 entries
Honorable mention
• next story in this contest, remove from contest - Think you gotz poetry skillz? by Naive..
190 points, ended September 26, 2008, 60 entries
• next story in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think.
Comments
1 - 29 of 29
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Well done it flows nicely and you done alot of research on this topic. Thank you for entering and Good Luck.
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Wow! i like the way you have your topic well researched! nice work. The rhyming is totally deserves this:
good work.
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thanks a lot =D
yeah the research was the fun bit. lol
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This was well written it rhymes alot but good job :
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Isn't rhyming sort of the whole point of writing a rhyming poem? Lol. Thank you for your comment =D
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Awesome! Great rhymes! Wasn't the reason all the people were buried alive because of some chemical in the food that caused them to appear dead?
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I guess that couldve been a contributing factor, but i guess other things couldve been causes as well. I dont know a great deal about the whole issue but yeah i thought it was interesting.
thanks for the comment and taking the time to read =]
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Whoa Whoa Whoa! That's totally cool! The rhyming is great. And you picked a good topic to write on. Really nice poem. Good job.
Aaez.
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Kind of creepy...but in a very enjoyable way. You did well with this though i enjoyed the second half much better than the first. And thanks for the Author note..was helpful
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Thank you very much. I thought that the author's note was most appropriate as not many people would have guessed what the heck I was on about =P
thanks again.
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Hey i luv the stories, i am also somewhat goth myself. But othertimes---I dont relly know who I am, and writing is the only thing that keeps me from being picked on and bullied.
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I know very well who I am, I think it's something that takes a really long time to find out, though. Goth is just my life, it's WHAT and WHO I am, and I don't care what other people say because I'm proud to be who I am.
I find that writing helps a lot with that, also.
Thank you for commenting =]
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Grand
This is a grand piece. I really like the almost old english taste to it, and the explanation afterwards was very helpful in setting the tone.
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it is scary to think that but call me afreak i think iwould be quite calm if i was buried alive its just me
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Yeah, it's different for everyone I guess, lol. But I'm incredibly claustrophobic so I would die of shock lol.
thanks for the comment =D
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I love it. You have inspired me to write something about this. Lol. You'll have to check my next story, eh?
x Julez -
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Thank you so much =]
I will definitely check out your next story =D
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That is creepy, there must be so much bad omens and entities over there. I was going to say join AP but you're already there lol. This was a spooky write, what freaked me out the most was We can hear them in the morn
Scratching from inside the torn
And tattered coffins that they live
Inside of, they shan't ever forgive
Great write!!
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Haha thanks so much =D
and yeah england has a scary history. well, not entirely, but a lot of its history is very suspicious and creepy =P
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Very nice poem...England as a very dark past yes,...I love this really do, however if you can write like this in a poem can you send a story like this to me? Just a thought.
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ha, to be honest, I am really bad at writing stories. I guess I get a little bored half way through and just sort of half-arse it along until it's finished. I guess I could try to write a story about it... I will definitely try but as I said, it will probably turn out crap =P
Thanks a lot for the comment and kind words =] -
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lol
i want to visit England... I have a good friend there, that I rp with a lot, in fact she was the inspiration for my KaelXHeilia stories, and I learn a lot of England speaking with her... The end school at 16 because they start at 4, and theres lots of other facts I learned... She is actually I wonderful person ^^
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wheeee
i actually was aware of that and much more regarding history of england and wish to one day visit, but this was very well done and amazing i REALLY like how you used ur knowledge to write this poem and are informing others ^^ awesome job with this i really liked it
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Yes, I find the history of England and everything about England utterly fascinating and after university I plan on moving there.
Thanks a lot for commenting =D
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oops lol
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XD very very frightening if I might say so myself...
But to just think that could happen sends chills through my spine... Almost like when they dug up vampires... okay maybe not but that chills me.
Can you imagine being buried alive ...
loved it
your so artistic
Blair
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I know it is so creepy to think they actually did that...
And I am claustrophobic so if I was buried alive I would die instantly because I wouldn't be able to handle the tight space =P
thanks blair =]
<3
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yay
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i really like this story. im not very good at commenting peoples work, but i know this is a erally good piece of work
good work frankie yay
xo
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