Spooky Story #4 – Dead Man’s Tree
October 31, 2021
Dead Man’s Tree
Dead Man’s Tree
they used to call it.
Long and wiry,
it stood innocently
amongst
the naked trees.
At first glance,
it was a normal,
ordinary tree.
Except,
secrets were buried deep
beneath the roots,
upon a pile of
crisp, white, human bones.
A stuffed scarecrow,
totem of death and fear,
an evil omen to a passing traveler,
place of sin to a priest,
symbol of bad luck
according to the
local town drunk and crazy.
But nevertheless,
an ordinary tree.
Only from a distance,
ordinary, forgettable, boring.
But nevertheless,
an ordinary tree.
But deep beneath
the dirt under our feet,
the tragic stories of this town’s
death, fear, and tragedy
in history took place.
Hand braided ropes
swung gently in the wind,
an ornament,
a common spectacle,
a primal tradition,
a barbaric practice,
echoes of the past once lived.
Crowds came in droves
from local towns.
Eyes lightened with
sick satisfaction,
toe-curling smirks,
and soulless eyes,
forever ingrained in
one’s own mind.
The hand of evil touched
these very grounds,
hellhounds guarded this very tree.
The devil himself graced
humanity with his very presence.
Sorrow, despair, and agony
left in his wake.
His very hands
braided the rope,
planted the tree,
tied the knot.
His influence
corrupted man’s mind
with evil thoughts.
They brought them up,
with gleeful spirits,
as they cuffed their stiff
necks with rope.
Hands tied behind their back,
heads bowed to the earth
in forgiveness and mercy.
They helplessly stood amongst their
friends, families, and neighbors
in humility, despair, and misery.
In pure innocence and grace.
They were ordinary, tragic souls
hung on the tree for sport,
strung up for decoration;
displayed as a
symbol, warning, sign,
to all of humanity.
Their pleas for forgiveness
disappeared into the crowd,
confessions of innocence
left their cracked lips,
whispers of sins
forever lost to the wind.
Their secrets kept buried and safe,
in the depths of their story and soul.
Their souls forever
a dark reminder
of great injustice;
Victims of a
heinous hate crime.
The timeless, classic story of
sorrow, despair, and agony;
Forever written into the pages
of the history books.
Forever past down
throughout time
as a local legend,
a ghost story,
a dead man’s tale.
Bodies gently swung
in the wind,
tragic souls lost over time.
Forgotten,
forever tied together in unity
upon the branches of
Dead Man’s Tree.
