Chapter 6: Visit

Strangers, strangers, strangers!
Now that I have let them in...

The groom, the bride, Shadow and all,
sitting by my side in the dining hall.
The groom looks short, bereft of his head;
the bride, quite tall, besprinkled with red!
And Shadow devours a nocturnal repast,
quietly voracious until the very last!

“...How may I help you?”, I ask the bride.
“Would you,” she pleads, “release and guide,
my husband’s head from Shadow’s ride?”

“Walk towards the candle, bright,
and Shadow will never dare to fight;
from behind, it cannot strike you right!”

Upon that, she turns him, the woman, tall,
to face the only candle in the hall.
The head springs back, like a bouncing ball!
And where I stand, behind the groom,
arrogantly swelling in my own dining room,
dark Shadow strikes and I fall to doom!

Strangers, strangers, strangers!
Would you kindly let us in...?