Shocking Sonnets: Night of the Hunter

Resident poet Nigel Parkin preaches on ‘Preacher’ Harry Powell in Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter

I  –  Clenching the Fist of HATE

All the devil’s got to do around here
Is parade some poor piece of filthy flesh
And he’s got fresh souls for his dark pockets.
Well he ain’t taking mine. I’ve got pockets
Of my own. Old HATE’s thrust deep in there now,
The knife of deliverance in my tight fist.
Ain’t no room for the right hand here. No sir.
I can sense the sweat of lust around me.
I smell it in the foul air. I can feel
My knife, stirring, tearing, hungry for flesh.
If I could, Lord, I would kill this whole world,
Bring down this fake temple, smother their souls
With the stained fabric of their sin, my hands
Glowing in the light of your silver moon.

II  –  Raising the Arm of LOVE

She says we’re tainted but I am bathing
In your moonlight, Lord. Strengthened by the night
I stand ready for my task, a statue
Of pure purpose, reaching for salvation.
She’s ready for you, lying like a queen
In a crypt, declaring her undying
Faith in you, in the path I have shown her.
Ah, those silver beams! The wolf is stirring.
My face twitches; the lip begins to curl.
It’s time to draw the blind down on the night.
You’re inside me now, in my arm, my knife,
The blade all too keen to do your bidding.
Tenderly I lean over her, the knife
Raised in my right hand. It’s an act of LOVE.

III  –  Riding the Night Mare

I’m in the world of their nursery now,
The shadow wolf at the edge of the path,
The troll waiting under the bridge that runs
Into the land of their dreams, where they hide,
Praying for safety, praying for an arm
To lean on, to lift them from the water,
To carry them home. I am the answer
To these prayers; I’m there in the echoing
Corners of their sleep, riding the nightmare
Along the horizon, illusory,
Backlit, part of this grotesque theatre
In which their dead mother can find Heaven
With the weeds of the river.  I’ll find them.
Then I’ll huff and puff and blow their house down.

The post Shocking Sonnets: Night of the Hunter appeared first on ComingSoon.net.