Hanged in 1692,
they haunt the streets of Salem still.
Blood-drained ashen apparitions
unabashedly bitter,
they wander far beyond their graveyard.
October tourists beware.
They seek revenge from you who gawk,
bring money to town’s coffers.
Fury unleashed, ashcans ready
to harvest your souls.
Written for Quadrille Monday at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. Today Sarah asks us to use the word “ash” or a form of the word, in our poem of exactly 44 words, sans title. I’ve used the word “ashen” and the word “ash” is hidden within three other words – can you find them?
Salem, Massachusetts is the home of the infamous Salem witch trials. Begun in the spring of 1692, Bridget Bishop was the first to be hung in June at Salem’s Gallows Hills. Nineteen more were hung that month. Some 150 were ultimately accused. There were other means of execution. Today, almost a half-million tourists flock to Salem in the month of October, frequenting the various witch museums, related shops, and of course, the graveyards.
lillian the home poet 
As they say in Massachusetts (esp near Boston) this is WICKED GOOD.
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The story of those witch trials is so well-known and so very scary. We had a massive witch processing 1668-1676 when hundreds of women were executed… The story was similar in the sense that it was children who were witnesses. All that cash you can rake in these days is a bit sickening.
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“Blood-drained ashen apparitions
unabashedly bitter,”
Excellent!
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I read ‘The Crucible’ at school, but I didn’t realise Salem had become a tourist attraction! I visited a ‘witches’ village’ in Spain once, and there was a large pig lying in front of a gift shop. Perhaps a former customer who had not been polite to the shopkeeper…
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I liked your hidden ashes – and they should be angry!
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Spooky one Lillian but a good place to visit during Halloween. I cannot imagine the agony of those witch trials from the past.
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Oh those witch trials from those days are enough to spook one even today! A scrumptiously spooky quadrille, my dearest Lillian 💝💝
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I like the “witch” murders to lynchings. Women and people of color have been on the receiving end of white male supremacy for a long long time. I’m glad you chose to highlight the Salem victims in your quadrille and am hoping the visitors to Salem show the proper respect for the departed.
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typo. like = liken
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“they wander far beyond their graveyard.” … love that line
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I was just thinking about Salem today! So many theories about what actually happened there (and in the nearby region). As Bjorn said in Sweden, too–and also in Scotland.
I was only in Salem once–not in October–and we didn’t go to any of the witch tourist places.
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I’m from MA and LOVE Salem, it is one of my favorite towns.
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Unfortunately on Samhain each year they may get their chance
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Creepy scary!!!
Much💜love
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I bet the energy there is unsettling… this creepy quadrille gave me goosebumps!
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I adore the connections between the haunting and the endless continuation of the city’s sin. Clever clever.
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Your last line is killer, and your tale is so well told. Our Puritan forefathers did some pretty awful stuff; unfortunately, just another bloody page in history.
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I like the hidden ash in words “unabashedly, unleashed, and ashcans”!
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Very seasonal! And spookily threatening.
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i love dark poetry.
Lovely one Lillian
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I have fond memories of visiting Salem at least twice as a kid, Lillian – it’s interesting 🙂
Also, I must confess that I had to look up ‘ashcan’!
❤
David
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Funny how it was always women. Just the odd man, but hundreds of women. I’d probably haunt too.
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It seems a strange thing to celebrate. (K)
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A wonderful use of the word Lillian!
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Spooky, and lots of shushing or conspiring whispers throughout the poem from the hidden “ash,” makes me think it’s best to tip-toe quietly past.
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