(A bit of spooky fun for Halloween - whooooo!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was innocent youth he left behind

Grown up experience that he sought

To go and see the world was on his mind

Feeling that his time was growing short

The best way being, or so he thought

From Portsmouth harbour to set sail and so

An ageing merchant vessel was caught

Away he went to see his English home no more

 

He soon found life at sea was too unkind

He did not find adventures as he’d thought

The cold grey ocean dulled his mind

He could not find that which he sought

The wailing of the rusting chains from iron wrought

Holding fast containers ‘pon the floor

Was in fevered Keller’s mind brought

As a voice that mocked his troubled soul

 

On cold grey evenings he could not find

The escape from crushing loneliness he sought

On the crew he was the sole of his kind

He’d heard no English tongue since leaving port

And so he grew increasingly fraught

Till in his mind there was a desperate roar

That in his heaving breast was caught

And so he scanned horizons for the shore

 

At last he left that draughty craft

At Riga’s grimy port he stepped ashore

His shipmates slapped his back and laughed

Men that Keller would see no more

He took his kit and walked down from the shore

His pocket bulged with his pay

And with hope for the future restored

He set off on his journey without delay

 

But all this happened in the past

Brought to Keller’s mind as he found

Himself once more aboard a merchant craft

Listening to the same old sounds

Across grey oceans journey bound

Still seeking meaning in his life

A faint hope fate sought to confound

Bringing instead pain and strife

 

Emptiness had dogged his troubled soul

As he worked his way across the continent

Each menial job had taken its toll

He sickened as if from an ailment

Slipping into some dark descent

That prevented him from feeling whole

And from his mind he dragged a remnant

A fragment of memory that could console

 

He’s learned at school while still a child

Of Robert Bruce and the spider who

Tried six times to fix its web and failed

But still came back to try anew

The seventh strand held firm and true

Keller tried to spin his web in the world

But had never made the breakthrough

His gossamer strands had never been unfurled

 

He’d climbed aboard the Lady Luck

A fishing boat from Scotland’s shores

As by powerful homesickness he was struck

A growing sense he couldn’t ignore

A nagging voice that grew to be a roar

To be among his kind, so long the stranger

Wandering through landscapes he abhorred

But would coming home be to admit failure?

 

At dawn the boat came to the quay

Drawn by the voices that he knew

Keller came up on the deck quite bleary

Though by the fresh sea air he was renewed

Feeling excitement course through every sinew

The boat was tied and catch taken ashore

And Keller bid the crew adieu

And swore to sail the sea no more

 

Keller walked, he knew not where

The weather turned and hard rain fell

His mind at once filled up with cares

A heaviness of heart he could not dispel

Slowly his frame his feet propelled

The day past quickly in a blur

He searched the road for a hotel

In the distance a light he observed

 

The light shone cheerful through the rain

With relief he saw it was a hotel

‘Lightbringer House’ the sign was plain

He climbed the steps and rang the bell

In moments an answer came

An old woman, Fabulinus was her name

Her wrinkled skin caused him to stare

It seemed to creep down her slight frame

To escape a shock of snow white hair

 

‘You’d best come in,’ the woman said

Keller stumbled over the threshold

Exhausted he was eager for bed

His wet clothes made him tremble with cold

He noticed her eyes, this woman so old

Burned with a fire strange and deep

He did not like her, truth be told,

But his body was in great need of sleep

 

Mrs Fabulinus told a strange tale on the stair

As she led the trembling Keller to his room

She told him if he’s wise to be aware

As the darkest midnight hour loomed

And as she left him in the gloom

Poor Keller reflected on her story

Of Claud Deimen, previous occupant who

Had met an end most gory

And the bedchamber became his tomb

 

Though Diemen was removed

The room was not yet cleared

His possessions were unmoved

And though the witching hour was near

At superstition Keller sneered

His body with exhaustion stumbled

Too tired to feel any fear

Through the darkened room he fumbled

Himself into the bed he steered

 

Alone in the silence, Keller stared around

Unsettled by the blackness of the night

He strained his ears yet there was no sound

Nor was there faintest hint of any light

He scoffed at himself for taking fright

But still he was unsettled so raised himself

Turned on the lamp, it wasn’t very bright

And examined every surface, every shelf

Then saw a truly terrifying sight

 

Among the many bundles neatly labelled

A pair of glassy eyes stared from the gloom

And seated there upon a nearby table

A small and grinning figure watched the room

Though small the devilish figure seemed to loom

And made poor Keller’s blood run cold

He felt his poor heart pound, could hear it boom

But then decided to be bold

And so approached the figure, and his doom

 

A mannequin stood four feet high

The light reflected in its stare

Emboldened, Keller gave a sigh

As his fevered mind was relieved of care

It was only a doll standing there

Dressed as a sailor, antique in style

Bell bottom trousers and tar in its hair

He’d seen often seen them in exile

In penny arcades or at the fair

 

The mannequin had a slot he saw

Where a coin could be placed

Then clockwork made the dummy guffaw

With laughter quite debased

And a broad grin on its face

He found a coin and pushed it in

Nervous and with undue haste

The dummy turned with broad faced grin

And manic laughter filled that space

 

Keller went into a trance

He couldn’t tear his eyes away

‘You’ve wasted each and every chance,’

The mocking dummy seemed to say

‘Ambition could never your fears outweigh,’

Keller’s spirit was laid low

As the jeering laughter died away

The words unspoken struck a blow

He could feel nothing but dismay

 

Keller’s mind and body could take no more

Soon he’d fallen fast asleep

Perhaps he  would be restored

If terror could not into his mind creep

But he would soon be roused from slumber deep

He woke up in a room both dark and cold

And from his mind could not the laughter keep

He turned and saw two eyes stare in his soul

It was that treasure it had come to reap

 

Jack Tar whispered to him gently

Making promises and boasts

Of life never ending

Keller found himself engrossed

By this strange and grinning ghost

That told him he could start afresh

And no longer feel morose

Escape from weakness of the flesh

And be free of all remorse

 

The next day Keller woke stiff and cold

Flicked open two mechanical lids

Through eyes of glass could the world behold

Of failure and guilt he was now rid

His face displayed a grin he did not bid

He threw back his wooden head

Thanks to some dark and evil craft

He that was now undead

Laughed and laughed and laughed...