Genesis

The stanzas of this poem were originally half as long, as each line was really twice the length it is now and all the rhymes were internal. That is no more. For publishing ease, I lengthened the poem. Use your imaginations to recreate what it was like. I wrote the last two stanzas pretty quickly last night, so that's why they may not seem to fit with the rest of the poem. It might be lengthened more into an epic-length poem. More of a mock epic, because this is not great poetry.

"The Half-Demon’s Genesis”
- or -
“What Happens When You’re a Jerk to Your Bride: In Rhyming Verse not Drawing from Experience”


In the deepening darkness of the night,
in a mountain’s shadow that held no light,
A young man hurried in his haste,
trying to act before it turned too late.
To aid a friend not yet in need,
he betrayed an ancient creed.
The young man, strong in word and deed,
left alone his new bride against her heed.
All in their cottage she was alone,
list’ning to the forest ‘round her moan,
And all alone she had to wait.
It was her husband’s fool-mistake.

In the deepening darkness of the night,
from the mountain that held no light,
A careening scream flew about her head,
and kept the bride from her nuptial bed.
From the dark forest a demon came,
kept away by no demon’s bane.
His breath rattled window panes,
his step shook the house’s frame.
He caught the scent of the lone bride,
and within two strides was at her side,
He was brimming with insatiable heat;
of forbidden fruits he would eat.

Swiftly upon her he did descend,
his demon-arms around her bend.
His hulking form around her curled,
finally his demon-lust unfurled,
In the night with her demon-lover,
such lust in herself did the bride uncover.
The heat, the guilty, overwhelming pleasure,
the pain that never could have measure
Would tear her heart and body sore,
and would leave her ever wanting more.
Once filled with dark demon’s seed,
only upon demon-love would she feed.

The deep darkness paled in light of day,
whisking the demon-lover away.
Her husband came home to a ravished bride;
‘twere better had she died.
Though every night she had her mate,
her hunger never could he sate.
After nine month’s heat had passed,
a child did befoul the world at last.
This was no normal child like any other,
but a demon who almost killed its mother.
And from its very birth-hour,
it ate all it could devour.

No other child could its mother hate,
no child reject such sweet lactate,
As black as one heart from Marrakesh,
this child did feast upon its parent’s flesh
The mother fain would return to ash and dust
if she could but nurse her demon-child’s lusts.
And thus, like a flittering fey,
the mother’s last traces of humanity did fade away
And soon she was nothing left but a husk,
a ravished carcass to fade away in dusk.

The demon-child did grow,
half-demon, half mortal, always screaming out a row.
Its mother dead,
the cuckolded husband did force it out of his empty stead
To let it wander on the wastes.
If any new-husband leaves in haste
His youngling bride to wait,
let him be warned of a half-demon to usurp his mate
And leave nothing but sorrow
for a thing which could have waited until the morrow.