When The Winds Come // Solana Rose

When The Winds Come
And when the winds come, when they come
they will tear at your tears and your lashes
they will tear at your poor mother's ashes
And when those have spilled into autumn air, you will reach for the dust, crumbled bone everywhere you will catch not a mote, you will tear at your hair -
you were trusted with your poor mother's ashes
tears fall thick from your eyelashes And when the cold grows, down the path go the night seeps in, it will threaten
the night will curl round, feel it pressing
For when the winds come, when they come they will tear at your ankles and fingers they will echo back all of your whimpers
The forest will swallow your calls and cries As they spill into the autumn night air, you will twist, eyes widened for there -
there, you will see the witches gathered three laughing and adding the ash to their tea
And once horror wrests its cry from your throat they will survey you, familiar in glances
they will beckon, summon you over fences
And when the eldest of the coven really sees you
she will whisper to each witch beside her
and nudge forward her spectral sister And when the tangled roots and knots of hair settle,
this vision will seem too familiar
the grandmother who once held you near -
your stomach drops with recognition as
you behold this apparition For when the winds come, when they come they will blow loose your mourning veil
they will lead you down a less-trod trail
And when the dead women, waiting for you encircle you with their thin arms you will be made stronger for their charms
When you find your ancestors in the forest
they will welcome you into the fold
they will tell what your mother never told -
your eyes drop shut and burst open, they cleave
you understand for the first time you will never leave
When the winds come, when they come
You will lift from your bed and step out
You will walk nightly through the woods, barefoot
The winds, when they come, will tear flesh from the bone
The winds when they come will pull you from your home
The winds when they come will awake all those resting
The winds when they come will unleash all those dustings,
those smatterings of lost ones, those buried, those ashed
The winds when they come will bring voices from your past The winds when they come grab children by the hair
The winds when they come will pluck planes from the air
The winds when they come will cause automobile crashes
and blackouts and rainfall and whistles and moans
and curses and rattlings of rusty old keys,
will pull frightened parishioners down to their knees,
will thump through the attics and cause sails to tear -
you will not be scared you walk, guarded by your old mother's ashes.
Solana Rose has been pursuing cinematic adventures in LA, taking every opportunity to paint sets, hunt for props, snack at craft tables, and edit scripts. When she is not vividly dreaming, you can find Solana painting, writing, or driving solo on any given freeway with the rock up and the windows down.
Instagram: instragram.com/solanarose94/
Website: solana-rose.com
#poetry #vol6 #halloween #boneandink #solanarose #witches #magic #death