The haunting of Stony Brook Mill.
Stony Brook Mill 1912
Somewhere U.S.A.
Roses are red, a cross is a square
At graveyard gates, you best beware.
--Old Stony Brook saying.
Her skin was soft and fair
Her age was all of nine
Blue eyes and pony tails
Made her look divine.
~~
She'd walk a footpath trail
Beside the graveyard gate
With mother hand-in-hand
And older sister Kate.
~~
One Summer's day in June
Her mom recalled the most
Said little Chelsea meed:
"I think that man's a ghost!"
~~
Gazing toward the graves
Beneath a maple tree
A roughish man in black
Softly waved with glee.
~~
"He's calling out my name,"
Did little Chelsea groan
But mother never heard
And walked the children home.
~~
As though within a trance
Or some odd placid state
A manner overtook her
Changing Chelsea's fate.
~~
Time and time thereafter,
Did Chelsea
sing this song:
~~~
"By the graveyard's tree
A man in black walked by.
While standing at my windowsill
I heard his lullaby."
Then one dreadful day
Outside the church was found
Chelsea's limp pale figure
Lying on the ground.
~~
Two marks upon her neck
Were parallel and deep
Her blood was all but drained
Securing a deadly sleep.
~~
The locals searched the grounds
For any clue or trace
When suddenly a shout
"There's blood upon his face!"
~~
There in the church's basement
Behind the casks of wine
They found a fair-skinned man
In a casket made of pine.
~~
In anger and in haste
All at once they knew
Kill him dead or else
Each child in town is through.
~~
A stake was quickly made
And driven through his heart
A haunting deadly deed
In which each played a part.
~~
But the following day was grim
As mourners passed to see
An angel dressed in white
They knew as Chelsea meed.
~~
Throughout the many years
As grief's tears finally dried
Her older sister Kate
Became a blushing bride.
~~
A daughter then was born
She proudly named Susanne
Whose bond with Kate was strong
While walking hand-in-hand.
But time and time again
Susanne
Would chant a song:
~~~
"By the graveyard's tree
A girl in black walked by.
While standing at my windowsill
I heard her lullaby."
| 
Email this Poetry
| 
Add to reading list
