Friday, May 22, 2009

Do You, Darkness

The ceremony was brief. Darkness never looked so lovely. She swept down the aisle in her velvet gown with the twinkles of stars sewn into its folds. Her crescent moon smile was radiant. I have to admit, her husband-to-be did not look quite so happy. I imagine he just had a bad case of the nerves. A lot of men are scared of the dark, though they seldom want to admit it.

The vows were simple and elegant. Death presided.

“Do you, Darkness
Take this man
To be your mate
To have and to hold
To carve and to mold
In sickness and despair
Till never do you part”

There wasn’t a dry eye in the place when the ceremony was over.
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39 comments:

David Cranmer said...

Ah, Me gusta! Dark prose with a sprinkle of elegant.

Sidney said...

Nice work.

laughingwolf said...

ooooooo love that, charles... well wrought :)

JR's Thumbprints said...

To carve and to mold ...

I know plenty of murderers who would agree with this. Of course, it would have to be the man's role to do the carving and molding.

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

That was seriously very cool! It had quite an effect - which is definitely what you are looking for!

ivan said...

(In Acadian): Oate de fouque...
Oate you call dat t'ing with de big teeth? Call my brudder. He never saw de female vampire before.

the walking man said...

You've done dark in a fine and unique way Charles. I like this a lot and like you I am well married.

Chris Eldin said...

Elegant and evocative. Tightly written. Very, very nice! This could be at the opening of a chapter---what plans do you have for it?

G. B. Miller said...

Beautiful sentimentality.

Be interesting to hear what the vows would be for the bride.

writtenwyrdd said...

I want to read the graphic novel of this, Charles.

pattinase (abbott) said...

YIKES! Elegant and frightening.

Michelle's Spell said...

Hey Charles,

Totally cool! It reminds me of my favorite poet, Denis Johnson's line -- "Darkness, my name is Denis Johnson/ and I am almost ready to/ confess that it is not some awful/misunderstanding/ that has carried me here." I love the wedding vow cadence of your poem. Here's to the shake-up!

Heff said...

- Verklempt! -

Charles Gramlich said...

David Cranmer, thanks. I appreciate that.

Sidney, glad you enjoyed.

laughingwolf, thanks, just a little play.

JR, I suspect we all get carved and molded. Some more visibly than others, I suppose.

Ello, thanks. I'm glad you enoyed.

ivan, speaking of vamps. We watched Dracula last night.

Mark, yes, Lana protects me from that Darkness bitch.

Chris Eldin, Glad you liked. I don't plan much for it at the moment but I never say never.

G, Yes, I haven't written those yet.

writtenwyrdd, lol. Never really thought of that.

pattinase, thanks, glad you enjoyed.

Michelle, I don't know that poem but now I must read it.

Heff, Dude, I didn't know you were German. I learn a new word every day. Just don't choke on your beer.

G. B. Miller said...

Charles, I just reread your post (I have simply got to learn not to read things within the first fifteen minutes of waking up) and what I should of said was, "I can't wait to hear what the groomsvows are."

Charles Gramlich said...

G, I interpreted your meaning, dude.

Middle Ditch said...

Okay ..... I stopped grinning. Cool Charles. I just love the style of writing. Very poetic.

jodi said...

Charles, she is beautiful and dark as the night and he has every reason to be scared!

jodi said...

Charles, she is beautiful and dark as the night and he has every reason to be scared!

Scarlet said...

Que bien. Thanks for the introduction to darkness.

Steve Malley said...

You forgot to mention the part six months later where she sets fire to your house while you're at work and stabs the mailman with a pair of cuticle scissors...

Charles Gramlich said...

Middle Ditch, glad you enjoyed. Excellent episode on Middle Ditch today.

jodi, Should beauty fear? Or should we fear beauty?

Scarlet, glad you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by.

Steve Malley, ...and then serves you your pet lab in a stew when you get home? yes, I know of whom you speak!

Erik Donald France said...

There's a ceremony I'd rather skip in person. Nicely wrought.

Middle Ditch said...

Thanks Charles. We definitely should fear beauty me thinks.

Merisi said...

"Oh Isis and Osiris,
guide them as they now make their dangerous way ...
"

I imagine a scene like this here, followed by one like this. The couple desires a little more sense of doom? How about this?
(These are all scenes from various productions of "The Magic Flute.")

Unfortunately I could not find my favorite Flute, the one from the Salzburg Festival 1982,with Edita Gruberova as Queen of the Night and Marti Talvela as Sarastro (what a voice - he sang from high up in the so-called Riding School, carved into rock, and several stories high). I still get goosebumps listening to their voices on CD (I was lucky enough to attend the performance back then - as young as I was, I loved it).

Randy Johnson said...

Like that! Your last couple of posts have been interesting. It's a nice look into how your mind works. Exactly what a writer needs. A working mind!LOL!

Chris Benjamin said...

dark like the title, touched by beauty.

Charles Gramlich said...

Erik, yes, living it in my imagination is enough.

Middle Ditch, it can be cruel.

Merisi,I didn't think about it at the time but it does have a kind of operatic feel to it.

Randy Johnson, thanks. I've been writing steadily on a book the past week or so so maybe I've forced my creaky jointed mind into some movement.

benjibopper, thanks for the kind words!

Spy Scribbler said...

I love how evocative both of these are. (I'm including the last one only because I read it on my palm pilot and couldn't comment.)

This one totally made me shudder.

Gary Dobbs/Jack Martin said...

Poetic to say the least

MarmiteToasty said...

Brill..

x

Lana Gramlich said...

Lemme guess...there wasn't a dry eye because everyone was dead? J/K
Another lovely little flash, baby. You're so talented.

Charles Gramlich said...

spyscribbler, wow, I'm not sure I've ever been read on a palm pilot before. I must be moving into the 20th century. Still awhile to go to reach the 21st. Thanks for the kind words.

ARCHAVIST, thanks, I appreciate that.

MarmiteToasty, glad you liked.

Lana, I loved that pork chop flash you made for dinner, sweetums. There lies a true talent.

j said...

Love how you used wedding vows and the idea of a reluctant groom. This was really good.

Mimi Lenox said...

"twinkles of stars sewn into its folds"....lovely.

Vesper said...

Beautiful, scary stuff... I love it!

Charles Gramlich said...

jennifer, thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Mimi Lenox, *preens*. I kind liked that myself.

Vesper, thank you. I appreciate that.

Alex Moore said...

enticing. the wording is both fun (I love twinkles, crescent, swept, radiant, presided) and descriptive, but best of all are all the questions left over at the end. a mere man? Darkness is marrying a mortal?

Charles Gramlich said...

Alex, yeah, there must be a story behind the story there. I haven't imagined it yet, though.