altered state

half-asleep by the fire
mesmer of fickering flame
what better time
or place
for ghost stories?

steep the brain in
melancholic narrative
frame
the creak of door the candle's plight the
wisp as light is snuffed and life hangs
tormented
chill breath on neck
despite the fire's heat

bemused by sound, the mind despises sudden
jolts that break the spell unless
soft-spoken words are spoken well
enough to hold, to lead, to squeeze a heart
with soft black gloves - some
have the art...

who wouldn't sit, enchanted,
by their fires
burning thoughts?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Franz Anton Mesmer (May 23, 1734 – March 5, 1815) was a German physician with an interest in astronomy, who theorised that there was a natural energetic transference that occurred between all animated and inanimate objects that he called animal magnetism, sometimes later referred to as mesmerism*