Headless

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Twas in the woods one night I trod
a dark and moonless night it was
with nothing but an owl to nod
and flying, made to show his claws.
The shadows long, they reached for me
and so I stopped to build a fire,
I hoped for warmth and light to see
but only thought of funeral pyres
when in the distance I heard a sound
that made me jump with each report
and as the thing came closer round
I saw the unholiest of transport
a horse whose hooves did fly with sparks
his demon eyes glowed like orange coals
and upon its back, in blackest dark
a creature that possessed no soul.
The creature dressed in robes of black
upon his shoulders, empty air,
it held it’s burning head in a sack
no mouth, yet screams would curdle there.
I could not move, I’d turned to stone,
I watched him raise his sword tinged red
and with a mighty arc he cleaved the bone
and severed from my shoulders my own head.
I watched it from the frozen ground,
somehow he reached inside of me,
tied a piece of his evil to my soul without a sound.
Laid aside his burning head, he picked up mine
put it back on my shoulders and spoke, though how is not clear,
he said, every year at Halloween you will be mine,
don’t think you can escape for I will be near.
Then the headless horseman mounted his beast
and they rode away in a trail of fire.
I feared one day I’d be called to an unholy feast
and I feared it would be my desire.

Copyright ©2025 Lisa Paul

Poetics: Hold Onto Your Head!
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Published by lisaapaul

I’m a paralegal, a widow, mother and grandmother.

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19 thoughts on “Headless”

  2. I love the Poe-tic spookiness of your poem, Lisa, the atmospheric setting, a moonless night ‘with nothing but an owl to nod’, the fantastic description of the horse, ‘whose hooves did fly with sparks / his demon eyes glowed like orange coals’, and rider with its ‘burning head in a sack / no mouth, yet screams would curdle there’. I can’t imagine having my head severed and watching it on the frozen ground! The swapping of heads is a great twist!

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  4. Ooooo! I love this creepy tale! I like the twist where the headless horseman beheads the narrator, then replaces his head, and tells him he’s doomed. I like the 19th century feel. Kim is right, Poe-esque.

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    1. Yes, that’s the most frightening thing! Its the evil piece the headless horseman implanted into him that is most terrifying. Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment! ✨🤍✨

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