Ron Shiflet

Dark squat shapes in tattered rags
were clawing at the ground.
Emptying graves in the old churchyard
to feast on corpses found.

Inside the chapel, from a rope,
hung the poor, old parish priest.
While canine teeth obscenely chewed
upon a hellish feast.

This dream recalled a canvas scene,
lifelike and damnably vivid.
It created scandal at the Boston Art Club,
making the critics livid.

Pickman was the artist's name
upon which, he brought disgrace.
A genius inspired by God knows what,
who vanished without a trace.