For
Three Word Wednesday, prompt words were
dainty, tantalize, haunting. An old memory, hopefully I did it justice here.
The Hallway
At the end of every service came
the Haunting, when every grinning
worshipper had gone through
self-closing doors, and in the dead
quiet every creak and squeak
was empirical proof
of malicious spirits waiting
for the final light to be dimmed.
And that was my job, turning
out the last back hallway light
while Dad checked the locks.
Switch at one end, stairs at the other,
hellfire sermon still alive
in my impressionable mind. I flipped
the lights off and paused, the soft red
glow of the exit sign serving only
to tantalize, a temptation
to take the first step
toward safety. I ran, blood pounding,
ashamed of fear but determined
not to become a dainty meal
for fire-breathing forces.
You may laugh and say what you will,
but I have known from childhood
that evil inhabits holy places.
