Villanelle Competition Entry: Eight

A Demon's Land

A priestly garb billows like a prayer
in the wind that shapes complicit sand
and a rural congregation is stilled in mock despair.

Remnants of youthful flesh and trailing hair
were left to ebb and flow without a guiding hand.
A priestly garb billows like a prayer.

Somewhere down there awaits a devil's lair
where heinous intent is on remand
and a rural congregation is stilled in mock despair.

Young ones, beware! An ogled stare
can covet juicy sweetness on demand.
A priestly garb billows like a prayer.

For this hamlet once filled with flowers, but now rare
weeds and willy-willys are in command
and a rural congregation is stilled in mock despair

their pastoral faces oblivious to the scare
that life is buried shallow in a demon's land.
A priestly garb billows like a prayer
and a rural congregation is stilled in mock despair.

Janice Withers