Image Credit: Johan Finnevidsson/Shutterstock.com

In those days the children went missing
In the cornfields the scarecrows would weep
As darker angels rocked the children to their deeper sleep
And we would search across the lands
Nothing but hope in our trembling hands
All the things we could never understand
In those days

In those days the dark ones met
In abandoned houses along forgotten byways
Like the flotsam and jetsam running wild
Up and down the broken highways
And they said that in those rooms
They cried and screamed and bled
In those days

In those days we followed gods without names
That danced in bonfire flames
Or formed as clouds above our weary heads
As we prayed for rain to feed the crops
And blessed every single watery drop and promised
To sacrifice and pay the price
For food and shelter
In those days

In those days we made such deals
That in the light of day we would conceal
Even from ourselves as beggars might
Pretend they are kings beneath the shadows of night
And when the children were all gone
The sky was so empty
Not a star left to wish upon
In those days

(c ) Helen M Valentina 2019