POETRY BY HEDDY JOHANNESEN

Heddy Johannesen is a conjuror of Gothic Fiction. She has written for many horror magazines such as Polar Borealis, Handbook of the Dead, The Feminine Macabre, Paranormal Chronicles, Untimely Frost, Samhain Secrets, One Night in Salem, Wax & Wane: A Gathering of Witchy Tales, Witches and Pagans Magazine, and Horror Novel Reviews: One Hellacious Halloween.  

She’s a member of the Horror Writers Association. She attended the virtual Horror Writers Association StokerCon writing convention in 2021, 2022 and 2023. She’s a writer with a fascination for the paranormal. 

METAMORPHOSIS

I learn from going where I have to go,
Only a lantern to guide me unto the darkness
swans swim in moonlit lakes.

I navigate a trail to find the invisible truth
a lovely songbird warbles riddles of kindness
I learn from going where I have to go.

Death greets me coolly, stands aloof,
I ride a canal boat towed by a blind guide
in vivid dreams swans swim in moonlit lakes

Alarm courses over me wherever I go
my sweaty colorful robe is several sizes too large
and lovely, learn from going where I have to go

No retreat now, the one-way sign sways in the wind,
the sentinel fox is my blind guide
in vivid dreams swans swim in moonlit lakes

A revelation to questions whispered by the blind collective
the answers shock me like a jeering jack in the box,
I learn from going where I have to go.

NUIT D’AMOUR

A moon,
alone,
fringed by lacy clouds
in the velvet sky.

Behind me
lies my shadow,
alongside me
stride my fears.

The raw truth
bites, I feel lonely
owning no fears.

Prey to the glaring sun
streaming into the room
as I recoil, blinded,
I leave your body, your even breathing.

My sins are burned to
smoke, ashes,
I am torn from their grip
I die, I own no fears, no sins,

I am a moon,
alone,
fringed by lacy clouds
in the velvet sky.

THE FRIGHTENING SPIRIT

This desire is so passionately tender
in your ardent eyes, a prayer to my heart’s
chambers, your eyes are mirrored in the
Spirit’s lusty dance under a
misty moonlight.
I turn away.

A pale vision I am myself, clad
in an ivory gown, a strong
ochre sphere holds me, you
kiss me, I know you love me.

The glowing sphere doesn’t burn
nor harm me, safe from the
delirious ghost
on the windy moors.

Silence, steaming, rising.
Sea waves under the moat dizzy me.
Love uttered like heartbeats flapping
of rustling crow’s wings.

When the last mist graces the
moon, I pray to be far away
from the dark shades lurking in the walls.

Oh, guard me in the gold sphere,
the crow’s
sharp soul disposing eyes
pierce through the night,
resting atop a tombstone.

Alas…sunlight emerges to stir life on earth.
Be present, be near, we will breath to a
twin chime, to sweet life deep in a love
richer than the frightening spirit’s dance.