Corpse Bride

The mob is a monster that requires blood
to extinguish its incandescent rage.
Her bridal finery only triggers a flood

of more bludgeoning fury.
After the blood-lust’s complete,
her body’s tossed, unmarked, they scurry,

wanting no descendants left to mourn,
though if the beast killed them all,
new targets soon would be found to scorn.

Years later, a young man on his wedding eve,
places his ring on the gnarled root of a tree,
but he discovers it’s bone, and he quivers with disbelief,

shivers as the corpse rises,
with death-breath, declares she is his bride,
and too late he realizes

he cannot hide. Before a group of rabbis,
the corpse bride demands marital satisfaction,
they agree the ritual was performed, then emphasize

(for redaction) the living and dead cannot wed.
At this, she crumbles, bones in a heap,
cries for her lost life, a spool without a…