Wishes

The night was an unwelcoming one
As fierce winds whipped the shore
Their mournful howls failing to drown out
The grey wave's mighty roar

Four scraps of black alone stood stark
Upon the pale moonlit sand
Four women who had braved the wind
To make an ancient stand

Each carried in their black clad arms
A candle not yet lit
And one carried a bird in a cage
One a rat, one a snake, one a fish

After the winds they had named themselves
When they had met a year back
For they were experimenting in old rites
Found in a book covered with leather of black

East was plain, dull brown hair and eyes
But against the wind her eyes shone clear
As she gripped her black rat's cage
As the rat trembled with fear

The hair that blew across South's face
Was as pale as the sand on which she stood
Her ice chip eyes on her bird were fixed
As it cheeped at softly as it could

West's hair and skin were a rich dark brown
Her eyes were as black as coal
She looked around at her companions
As her fish gurgled in its bowl

North's skin was as white as frost
Her short hair was dyed deep black
She smiled as her snake's tongue tickled her hand
Then lifted it up and kissed it back

They stood North, South, East and West
Alone on the wind batted coast
They lit candles that burned with blue light
Then intoned what each desired most

East asked to be as beautiful
as she felt she was within
West wished for revenge on those
That mocked her for the hue of her skin

North wished for all the power
Her thin body could hold
South wished for health and happiness
To her loved ones, young and old

//////////////////////////////////////////////

East was shot by a lover
Who had wanted her all to his own
Her beauty drove him to madness
To share her he could not condone

West ended her own life
As more and more of her peers died
For her revenge was indeed taken out
On all who had ever made her cry

North is kept in a coma-like trance
As she lies strapped to her bed
But each day, just before her shots are due
Her manic laughter fills nurses with dread

South lives on quite happily
But on that fateful night she still dwells
Her friends are dead or violently insane
And it could have been her as well

Beware of black books, stained with age
Filled with rats, birds, snakes and fish
Be careful what you think you want
You might just get your wish