"Stone Circle" by Rochelle Leya Watts

A fine morning in May
William strolled down the street
Whistling a merry tune
in the sunlight of summer sweet

Children ran by him
laughing and cheering in delight
for the festival that night
And he smiled to see all

the ribbons wrapped round the poles
windows blooming in picked flowers
He thought to stay the night
and indulge in a few merry hours

When the stars unveiled their light
and the fires lit the square
he wandered the street here and there
through the singer and drinkers

There by the light of the biggest fire
in the square's center, he saw her face
In that instant his heart leapt
leaving a warm hole in its place

for it was hers completely
for her rose colored cheeks in tan skin
and hair like so much gold spun in
to a crown of her curls on her head

As he moved closer
he swore he could hear sweet bells chime
in her laugh and saw one
such smile striking enough to freeze time

With a fluid bow and a kneel
he took her hand in his his
and made all the promises
that such ladies move men to make

He swore on his heart
that ran hot blood blessed
through his veins as his words
in her eyes sought interest

Hand in hand they strolled
past fires,to the treesand up a hill
to a clearing wheer moonlight stood still
in the coils of her hair

Her curves sighed at his fingers
Though at first she seemed shy
when her lip met his at last
the passion grew by and by

He laid her so gently on a stone
fallen from its rightful order
The ring made some arcane border
that round the clearing ran

And after the moaning was ended
when they side by side
he asked her baout the boulders
in the clearing in which they lied

She murmured some old rumor
of druidic rites preformed long ere
the town was settled there
and powerful spirits said to remain

Then she laughed and dressed
ran for him to give merry chase
giggling and hiding behind trees
Whenever he slowed his pace

Weeks sped their time past
Hours of rapture William occupied
in her company in the countryside
where the grass grew still green

And the days became shorter
and the leaves turned their hues
He thought that here might he stay
A home at lasthe could choose

It was late October and chilly in the morn
when he left his room to see
if today could be spent with she
who left him breathless even now

He whistled and strolled down the street
to the corner of her lane
Her door was open, with her standing in it
He was just about to call her name

In his pause, from inside behind her
a different man emerged
After a glance left and right, she urged
the man foward and gave him a deep kiss

William shook his head wildly
this scene refusing to believe
and turned to wander the road
his distress his feet to relieve

He thought he might ask her
but in his heart he knew
no answer she might give true
of any treason in love

When he raised his head to look
he was standing near a stone
The one fallen on its side
that with ivy was overgorwn

He climbed up to sit
staring off into the darkening sky
daring his cheeks to stay dry
and he barely noticed the thorns

They needled into both his hands
a vague and distant pain
when likened to his heart's distress
though one that made a light red rain

And the stone soaked up every drop
so that no crimson smeared
its surface now dark and weird
in the glow of the rising moon

The moon that shone directly
In the center, where he saw her between
the stones moving with a grace
so fair as to fit a noble queen

Her black hair a veil of night
swept back to reveal porcelain
so pale and perfect ws her skin
He was entranced wihtout thought

Then she spoke, her velvet voice
that murmured but one query
if wished to release her from here
to chnge his life turned so dreary

He nodded his head slowly
and took her smooth hand in his
for it was she who made promises
of everything he had lost and more

She took him in her arms
and they rose in the chill night air
and sped back to the lights of the village
on wings that it seemed were not there

They landed in front of a tavern
so there he stood with a silent ear
to witness the noises inside of fear
as every man learned to bow

then she brought him, still mute
to where dwelt his love of before
The house fell until there was nothing
standing behind that closed door

Their path led the way to the castle
where the lord was soon less a head
She crowned herself in his stead
and declared William her faithful lord

He spoke no word but watched
in time the country from his tower
counting how fast winter crept in
upon the village hour by hour

The trees had no more leaves to lose
and snow covered the soil thickly
when William swallowed thickly
the fear that stained the air

He wandered from the castle
through the deep bitter cold
muttering all to himself
about places so powerful and old

The clouds gathered in dark grays
and a savage wind sprung up fowl
and a voice on it was heard to howl
for William to change his course

As lightning tore the sky to shreds
each time thunder rolled reminding
Wlliam that his wish was binding
and he would die before she set him free

He refused to fall or fail
as the hail bruised and battered him about
Finally through the storm's wrath
the stone on its side he could make out

Straying to the center of the circle
he summoned the will against surrender
to that awful unending scream of hers
swearing he did not have the strength

He pulled the knife from his belt
and so with one swift lunge
that into his own bared chest
the dagger's sharp length he plunged

Red drenched the stone laying unmoved
Staggering, his feet lost, he fell upon
with so much of his gone
soaking both the stone and the ground

He cried for her release to be reversed
he screamed its terrors to forsake
and with his last few heart beats
her terrible power William bled to break

When storm faded, the clouds sliding apart
so soft rain could wash the snow
the stone and the scarlet ground below
where soon green flowers would grow