Poem: "The Clackernoose" by Levi Mericle

The Clackernoose
Levi Mericle

“For Poe”

There stands in the depth of night
A reaper at my door
To depict a certain shadow light
To remind me of what’s in store

My fractured soul is steady
To embrace what life enclosed
My pillow rests plump and ready
To accept what fate has chose

I snarl at the brink of midnight dew
In exchange for a rapid chill
Yet my mind can only think of you
When the sandman comes to kill

The clock strikes one as I hear the hum
Of the Clackernoose and his clan
For they will not come in the morning sun
Or when the stars caress the land

They are made of demons and wonder
Of discretion, damnation, and filth
They appear in the sound of thunder
Clapping laughter at our guilt

Built with bodies of children they’ve eaten
Of embryonic means
They swallow the treasures that suit them
And wear skin as clothing scenes

Their shrilling speech will grind the mind
Like the stones against a pier
And they bleed a certain scented sign
Indented in the atmosphere

They feed on the weak of heart
Heartache is their meal of choice
And once you scream they simply start
To catalog your voice

The door frame starts its shaking
My candle blows its flame
A hand started simply taking, taking
My identity from name

My withered words are so very few
As I simply plea to stay
But the Clackernoose comes straight on through
To dismember me from day

Now I have no existence
I’m but a tainted apple tree
Like Adam and Eve, repentance
Is not a choice for me

I offered a symbolic flag
Of no disclaiming truce
As I fell into the choking hands
Of my fateful Clakernoose

Previously published in The Autobiography of a Broken Kid