I wrote this to accompany a previous piece
‘The raven’s awful call’.

The old bell tolled its mournful chord
A six-foot box slid under ground
And as they shovelled the cold earth back
The tired old bell was the only sound.
And the raven called as the scythe fell
Another would join him soon
When once again the bell would toll
Its sad and terrible tune.

Presently to the graveyard came
A fog so thick of damp grey mist
And one more of the throng fell dead
Another sinner on the Devil’s list.
High above in clouds so dark
The raven flies and flies alone
The Devil’s unwitting accomplice
Whose list is long and carved in stone.

So dark his wings and sure his flight
He joins with others to wait
And gathered in their unkindness
They sense the Devil won’t sate.
Long the years the two were met
The Devil’s disciple is he
He’s used as a terrible tool of death
He knows he too is not free.

For as the scythe cuts through the air
Once more a scream is heard
The raven calls his baleful cry
Another sinner is interred.
Now he sits on the scythe of death
No hint of life ‘cept blinking eyes
Until again the scythe is raised
When once again the raven flies.

©Joe Wilson – The Devil’s accomplice…2016