LoSchiavo

Poetry Corner

Annabel Lee Breaks Her Silence by the Sea

— Inspired by “Annabel Lee,” the last complete poem written by Edgar Allan Poe

It was too many years ago that he, Dishonorably discharged, introduced Himself to me. I ran a B and B Then: “Kingdom by the Sea” in Miami.

He claimed he’d shield me from the “Tyranny Of Ordinary.” I replied, “Can you Clean drains, fix pipes with a mortician’s care?” “Winged seraphs,” he sighed, adding, “Sounds dreamy.” He wasn’t in touch with reality, Describing my inn as a sepulcher. Since this is Florida, the morbid term Eluded tourists. Still. It rankled me.

His nihilism had reached the nth degree, Always contemplating mortality. A swell mechanic, sure, but his morose Mindset was only fit for poetry.

Then hurricanes uprooted my palm trees, Chilling and killing income by the sea, Chilling and killing my prized B and B. While sweeping up debris, we disagreed.

Storm winds rushed me into the sounding sea. How strange. He calls me bride, sees my bright eyes, Mourns by my sepulcher built near the sea. Famous, he’s published now by FSG.

The Raven

Lady Madeline Usher’s Revenge

“We have put her living in the tomb!” – Poe, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” 1839

Poe’s story didn’t cover Roderick With glory, shoving me inside that crypt Alive though bored to death — shut up, my sole Companion him, doomed gloomy twin. How droll To dream he’d benefit —sole ownership — As if our home, with that décor, was hip: Dark passages, frayed somber tapestries, Tarnished armorial mementoes. He’s A hoarder. Junk became his “rare antiques.”

Insipid arguments were his technique For keeping me unmarried and distressed About his health, discouraging my guests, Manipulative, daring suicide Each time I saddled up my horse. A bride I might have been, a beauty in my youth.

Rod got what he deserved and that’s the truth.

Native New Yorker LindaAnn LoSchiavo, a Pushcart Prize, Rhysling Award, Best of the Net, and Dwarf Stars nominee, is a member of SFPA, The British Fantasy Society, and The Dramatists Guild. She won the Elgin Award for “A Route Obscure and Lonely,” a line from Edgar Allan Poe’s “Dream-Land.” Her latest poetry titles are “Concupiscent Consumption,” “Women Who Were Warned,” and “Messengers of the Macabre” which appear in her soon-to-bereleased book. Up next: a tombstone-heavy collection in hardcover by Beacon Books.

To reach LindaAnn online:

https://linktr.ee/LindaAnn.LoSchiavo

@Mae_Westside

LindaAnn Literary on YouTube

Poe and His Women, a video-poem written by LindaAnn LoSchiavo, narrated by Dylan Bagenais.

Messengers of the Macabre: Halloween Poems by SFPA poets LindaAnn LoSchiavo & David Davies: USA: Nat 1 LLC, October 22, 2022

Women Who Were Warned [U.K.: Cerasus, June 2022]

The RaVen