Voices of Villains and Fear-Fuelled Poetry

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Is this is a good time? We aren’t that far away from Halloween are we? Eh. Whatever. Here’s something to balance out all the flowery love poetry of February if that isn’t your style. 

This summer, one of my roommates worked in an Iowa cemetery. This particular cemetery was special, being in that it attracted a lot of tourists. Because of this…um…lovely statue…

Sweet mother of….Don’t look directly into its eyes. 

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This is The Black Angel of Oakland Cemetery. According to legend, it turned from bronze to black quickly, for reasons some explain with science and others explain with other reasons. According to various legends: Don’t kiss or touch the angel unless you’re a virgin, or you’re going to die. Don’t stand under the angel if you’re pregnant, or you’re going to miscarry. You can find out more about the whole backstory here.

When comes to urban legends, the supernatural, and anything else in this realm, I like to call myself “involuntarily superstitious.”  There’s science and logic, and of course I respect and accept its merit— especially in the light of a sunny day—the problem is, my wild imagination doesn’t always back me up on that acceptance. 

Near where I grew up, there’s a road called Cuba Road near the White Cemetery.  In high school, a lot of my fellow classmates would venture out there during the witching hour on Halloween, to which I always took a hard pass. 

Yeah. uh, no thanks. I’d rather sit at home handing out candy to toddlers in little ladybug costumes or something instead. 

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Though I may be the queen feline of all scaredy cats, and you may sympathize (or not, then just keep laughing, I can’t hear you anyway) I don’t always hate my imagination for making my mind a scarier place to live than the real world. In fact, it can make for some great poetry. 

The Prompt

It’s time for a role reversal. Take on the voice of an urban legend villain. Bloody Mary. The Boogeyman. Slender Man. The Black Angel. The Gangster ghosts in the White Cemetery. Do some more outside research on the origins of the legend if you need some more fuel. Then write a poem from their perspective. Maybe they aren’t all they are rumored to be. Maybe they’re more. That’s up to you, poet. 

Read more of Alyssa's work on Floodmark.