Editor’s note: This poem has a delightfully eldritch feel to it. And just what future will be revealed for this family? I wonder. A memorable read.
She was late with child
And fading fast, life slipping away
Neither village women nor midwives
Could say why, offer hope
Nor could the wise women tell
The cunning man diagnose, cure
The hedge witches offered their herbs
Some comfort, no cure
But, one old witch told the husband
“There is one possibility, perhaps
If you were to seek a goblin midwife”
He asked, “How? Where?”
“In the oldest part of the forest
There is an old, old tree,” said she
“Take some of its dark heartwood
Trace the contours by finger, then knife
Carve free the shape of a person
And release her, the goblin midwife”
So, the husband went
Deep into forest, shadowed
Found an old, old tree
Drew out its dark heartwood, drew it free
Ran his fingers across it
Discerning a shape, contours
Took his knife and began to cut
Whittle a poppet, child-like
Held the manikin in his hands
Cradling it, cradling his hope
Eyes blinked open
To his shock, surprise
The goblin midwife jumped down
Free of his hands, alive
Looked up at him
Asked him, “What do you want?”
He explained his wife’s predicament
It cracked a smile, dark and strange
“I can save her life
Save your wife, I can
But, there is a cost to it
Great cost, one that must be paid”
The husband couldn’t deny it
“Anything, anything at all”
“I shall save your wife
Deliver her child, but take it
Take the babe away as my price”
Heartbroken, he could only agree
Carried the goblin midwife
Upon his back, homeward
Took the curious creature to his home
To his wife, his love
Where it crooned over her belly
Strange songs, healing tunes
Bringing her back from the edge
Of Death’s cruel abyss, back home
Reviving her from her malady
Bringing forth the child, innocent
But, as the midwife worked
The husband left their side, slipped away
Sought the wise old witch
Described his bargain, his heartbreak
And the wise old witch laughed
Not cruel, but bitter
“Such is the way of things
A bargain, a devil’s deal
A life for a life
A wife, a child”
He begged her to help
“No,” said she, “it cannot be
For once a bargain has been struck
It cannot be undone, unstruck”
And with a glistening tear
She told him, “This I surely know”
Returning home to wife and child
Husband was bitter, angry
And the goblin midwife chuckled to see him
Reminded him of their bargain, their deal
“In return for saving your wife
Give me your child, the one you made”
And the husband smiled
A grim smile, mind whirling
“That truly is what I swore
A bargain made, now fulfilled
The child I made
I give you – yourself”
And he took the goblin midwife
Tossed her on the fire, heedless
Returned to dark heartwood
The goblin burnt away, became ash
Husband joining his wife
Hopeful of happy ever after, perhaps
The player of a cunning trick
Or, oathbreaker, traitor
Rewarded with wife and child
Or, storing up a curse, a bad ending?
***
Bio: DJ Tyrer is the person behind Atlantean Publishing, and has been published in issues of The Horrorzine, Illumen, Sirens Call, Star*Line, and Tigershark, and online at Lonesome October, and Three Drops from a Cauldron. SuperTrump and A Wuhan Whodunnit are available to download from the Atlantean Publishing website. He also has a personal blog.
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Image from Pixabay.
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