Devils Playground

The Devil's Playground.

The townsfolk went inside at night,
well aware their could be fright.
They knew that in the woods,
An eerie playground stood.
A place where goblins, imps and elves,
have their fun there in the dell.
A place where things were to be feared,
and no one dared go near.

The sun set late that full moon night,
The animals and birds took flight.
Away from evil goblin games,
they all knew that now they came.
Except for one small girl,
Who watched the games unfurl.
Never did she fear her life,
though others would think this full of strife.
All Hallows Eve was here,
So they all knew they should fear.
For dreadful things in haunted woods,
were often seen, bereft of good.

At first wind whistled through the trees,
But then, a noise what could it be?
A boy with hooves, a tail horns,
Was playing on - is that a horn?
Another sound, maybe a harp?
It's hard to tell. The music starts.
A symphony of ghoulish tunes,
Underneath the pale moon,
The night is damp with dew,
and quite a crowd more than a few,
Of demons, witches, goblins, nymphs,
Ghouls and nasties, ghosts and imps.
Lit up by many a firey torch,
Would waves of destruction by them be wrought?
What will happen in the woods?
Where all the tallest trees have stood?

The shapes and shadows start to move,
the clouds then shift, and there's the moon.
A bonfire's lit, and through the trees,
Their master comes, they fall on knees.
Out creeps the leader of them all,
The only angel who did fall.
In his wake, a ghoulish group,
All seem to dance, as in they troup.
Twisting, twirling, as if insenced,
singing, dancing through woods so dense.
One comes slinking like a snake,
One comes wooden as a rake,
With devious smiles and knowing grins,
For tonight's a night of joyful sins.

But there is something they don't see,
A child watches behind a tree,
She peeks in wonder, peeks in awe,
At creatures she's not seen before.
Silent, watching, scared to move,
All she'd wanted was the proof,
That demons stalked the woods,
She'd thought the night was good.
And still the music, on it plays,
It seemed hypnotic, seemed to say,
"Come dance, have fun be gay."
The child, scared, began to pray.
For spirits good to keep her safe,
But then it hit her like a wave,
The demons all began to sing,
and dance in ways most frightening.
To this hypnotic tune,
that echoed through the gloom.

It got into each demon heart,
and each it seemed did have a part,
To play within the group.
To dance within the troupe.
And though she tried hard not to look,
It caught the girl, as if by hook.
And she began to sing,
It felt as though she had the wings,
To fly up like a bird,
But hush. The devil heard.

As though caught up by magic charms,
she danced into the devils arms.
Jumping down from in the tree,
Without a moments thought to flee,
Hypnotised by honeyed notes,
In a trace she comes, she nearly floats.
She span and spiralled, kicked her heels,
To her the whole world seemed unreal.
The music grabbed her soul,
And now she too played a role.
In the merrimaking dance,
Which all the ghouls did dance.
In stunned amazement Hades stood,
The party tensed, testing his mood.
His face was grave, his anger great,
But the child knew not her fate.
The song went on, musicians strummed,
They did not see the crowd struck dumb.
But this small child tempting fate,
In a gleeful dance of joy so great,
As if she felt the joy of all,
these devious creatures great and small.
In the playground in the wood,
Here the bad felt good.
She danced, she felt the demons joy,
Oh hoovedgirl and tailed boy.
And still the devil stared in shock,
For it appeared the girl did mock,
The Devils Playground, Devils pride.
How did this child have the hide?
But so infectious was her jig,
Here came an imp with snout of pig,
a tail of ox and wings of bird,
For them unstrange, for her absurd.
He walked to where the child pranced,
Inside the circle and began to dance.
With more glee than he had before,
Kicking up his heels on the leafy floor.
And with this girl, he danced for joy.
the two of them were like a toy,
when wound that cannot help but dance,
and in this way these two pranced.
But with this, the devils anger grew,
At that moment cold wind blew,
An icey glare from firey eyes,
and lightening crackled in the skies.
The devils blood boiled in his veins,
The mood of demons quickly changed.
Where they had just had feet a tapping,
Singing, laughing, many clapping,
to the music that played on,
In a dark enchanted song.
But now they cowered down in fear,
The bright bonfire crackling near,
Blazed higher as his anger grew,
A finger point and a reddish hue,
Lit up the sky and blazed so hot,
But it appeared the girl forgot,
Among who she danced, whos game she played,
If she'd remembered would she have stayed?
But she was lost unto the dance,
The devil'd give her not a chance,
To redeem for how she'd sinned,
in her mocking dance for him.
He beckoned her onto the stairs,
Where on top he sat, in a throne like chair.
He told her 'Dance!'But she'd never stopped.
Just for a moment her pleasure dropped.
As she realised what was going on,
But the music swelled and her fear was gone.
Her dance continued, it seemed to infect,
her heart full of music, it couldn't detect,
that all the evil ones tapped with their feet.
Overpowered and crazed by an infectious beat.
They tapped and they clapped as they started to sway,
While over their shoulders the cold light of day,
But they didn't see, too infected with rythym,
the child, blinded to all couldn't see them.
She was caught in the music, so infectious and true,
And first one gobiln, then imps, a few,
Timid at first but increasingly brave,
Did these few souls dance, their all they gave.
They were lost to the music and then three or four,
Of the hundreds of gremlins hit the woods floor.
Singing and dancing, having a blast,
and their numbers increased, first slowly then fast.
Soon all of the demons were dancing with joy,
the child danced on, was it a ploy-
On her part to make the devil ignore her?
But in all the frivolity, he came toward her.
Heavy feet down the stairs, ever closer to her,
But she still remained caught by whatever it were,
that made her keep dancing and still rose the sun,
But all were distracted, all having fun,
But still came the devil closer and near,
But the girl wasn't scared, she shed not a tear.
As his heavy foot fall, walked on down the stairs,
Around them they danced, in threes, fours and pairs.
But the devil intent, and the child bewitched,
Ignored all the others, tune perfectly pitched.
And closer he came, while all of them danced,
they ignored his angry unspoken demands,
to cease the frivolity, this child was bad,
Even for demons. The devil was mad.
And still they kept up, all happy and gay,
Never to notice the dawning of day.
The devil, so close, she's just out of his grasp.
He reaches his arm, intent on the task,
But over the hill, the sun shows her face,
In a flash, all the creatures were gone from the place,
And the child, she stopped and she looked all around,
But all that she saw was a flute on the ground.
Bending down near, her fingers took hold,
She picked up the flute more precious than gold,
Without it she knew no one would think true,
The devil's playground in the light of the moon.