‘Solemn Slumber’ by Elizabeth L

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No matter how hard Richard tried
he couldn't sleep
Even with the church bell chimes and the softness of a sheep's behind
He couldn't sleep a peep
only dozing, never falling deep

A random fishing rod stood beside him on the floor
It was a lever to open a secret door
They always asked the same question
"Do you like fishing?"
And Richard would agree nodding.
But behind his bed , lay a room
Where his most recent victim was awaiting her certain doom.
In the corner of this room
His collection of knives and scalpels relaxed on a tray stained with sin
The hound of dismantled bodies slightly topples,
and useless fingers and eyes lie in the bin.
On the walls were a collection of brain in jars of formalin.
And in the middle was the victim.

The  victim hunched back away from the wall.
Her eyes lost of hope and,
Her  stomach roared in fear
she didn't know why she was there but she knew, death loomed near.
Her blood was cold and her hair stuck to her face .
Her breath was too thick and out of pace.

Around her limbs, the chains were the least of her worries now,
As each candle blinked with a promise they could not endow.

In a spine shattering tone he said,
"Sing a  lullaby or you'll find yourself in a jar" .
She turned her head as dread washed over her and she stared into the door left ajar.
he faced the wall ,eye bags swelling in prides,
the jars were labelled with various lullabies.

In desperation she found herself singing
In a voice so divine and sweet
It made his heart skip a beat
Myriad of melodies of 'Weigenlied'
Escaped her tongue, her ears ringing.
'Guten Abend gut' Natch '
The floor was a graveyard of failed verses
He made way onto his mattress
'Mit Rosen bedacht'
And he plummeted into the immerity of the song and then a slumber that lasted eternity...long.