Portal to a Senseless Dimension

in this rather extended excerpt from my novella-poem "Sludge White and the
Seven Curmudgeons", the friends gather for a holiday dinner at the spookhouse
in the woods, and join Guanyin's circle as the blind hedge witch (who raised
Sylvana) attempts to wrest Gramps, Lumpy, and Pally from the clutches of the
shape shifting shade in the senseless dimension.
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Mock was the last to reach the crowded table

thanks to the pace of his shuffling, rustling gate,
his organic crutches readily appending
to the well-drenched framework wedged next to Nate.

a hybrid species had come into being
a sardonic wit slinging slithering shoots,
an animated green man sprung from his scaffold
and rambling about on rummaging roots.
sensitive tendrils evolved into clothing,
a mossy fabric that covered awkward spots,
where extremities lived in memory
ensnaring tactless eyes and tying tongues in knots.

a place was reserved on the table for Squint
heaped with roasted chestnuts Rashful had prepared.
someone brought the otter a fishy saucer
for his motor skills were patently impaired.
Elsbeth coasted in through an open window
regally bristling and resplendently spruced,
the dinner guest of Sable and the sparrow
merrily ensconced on their mantelpiece roost.

Chester's slim detachment had taken a detour

which the glimrin had been loath to explain.

but Guanyin seemed to foresee this, saying

"the wind will tote them in, just prior to the rain."

from her seat by Weepy she pitched her voice

sailing past laughter and the minstrel's silver trill.

"i invite you all to join me by the fire

once thirsts are sated and you've had your fill.

the currents of change may adeptly be tapped

where blithe spirits and buoyant humours abound.

this feels like a night for opening windows,

for stretching out space so the lost can be found."

before her words had a chance to sink in

or Weepy and the bard could pry their eyes apart,

an ear-splitting squawk shattered the ambience

shredding the air like an atom-splicing dart.

Rashful had barely pulled open the door

when Mary made her entrance in a sizzling din,

funereal cowl eternally flapping

and sea-green visage rippling in a grin.

"why, the little gnomes are having dinner!

my, but time flies!  is it Aethelwort's already?

don't anyone get up on our account.

convivial mortals tend to be unsteady.

i see you’ve got guests.  Mercy! it's thou in the flesh!

i read your message.  naturally i'm here.

i thought that sparkling arbor had your touch.

such an apt setting for the shining one's bier."

she glanced through the doorway and rolled her stark eyes

as skeletal fingers curled around the jamb.

then a timorous skull abruptly appeared

shivering dread like a sacrificial lamb.

"pardon my presumption, but Solomon's in tow.

he didn't have anything on now.

i'll never forget how Anastasia dug him

back in her days as a commoner cow."

she let loose a lethal, piercing guffaw

and the monkey's paws covered his cowering head.

"the three of us are bound to stir up something.

perhaps, if we're lucky, we'll wake up the dead!"

Guanyin chuckled as she smoothed the monkey's fur,

and passing him to Weepy, rose to her feet.

"your presence is a great relief, my dear.

and Solomon's always an existential treat."

still on the prowl for his nimble nemesis

the skeleton hearkened to muffled squeals.

and then the watchrug weaved itself about him
wagging its tassels and tugging at his heels.

the birds dispersed as the mammals ambled in

like reticent mirrors of wakening grace,

their voices hushed and their heartbeats hastening

sensing a resonant, inhabited space.

the monkey made the rounds, handing out candles

dipped in deep amethyst and scented with sage.

then Guanyin invoked a blue-white brilliance,

a flaming intelligence of prodigious age.

cupped in her hands his countenance flickered

emitting tinted wisps of dancing, molten glass,

as the two of them murmured in rustling tones

like intimate breezes in a sea of grass.

everyone in turn was brushed by the flame

yielding to a summons they did not understand.

but seeing the tapers sparking around them

they knew they were links in a luminous stand.

the entity retired, ascending an arc

trailing falls of incandescent splashes

that lingered above their upturned faces

dampening cheeks with the blink of dewy lashes,

condensing in droplets of myriad colors

and drifting down like atmospheric tears,

diffusing the singular impression

that kernels of wisdom had whistled past their ears.

Guanyin raised an arm, divining the ceiling

proceeding to sketch a conjectural square,

a liquid light remnant tracing her motions

in pendent echoes igniting in the air,

etching a window of shimmering emerald

cutting a swath almost reaching the floor;

framing a sash for glimpsing dimension,

collapsing the hasp on a transcendental door.

billowing black shadows instantly emerged

obscuring the portal in an opaque haze,

like inky camouflage masking a mollusk

spewing smoke faster than a furious blaze;

a devouring darkness rarely observed

in cloudiest night or loneliest distance,

an emptiness scaling a restless abyss

to snuff out trust in external existence.

the Stygian substance swiftly blotted out

the last illumined specks that strayed in its way,

as if a black hole was trolling the window

voraciously searching for radiant prey.

the banshee glided into the chaos

screeching with abandon, making everyone duck,

puffing a stream of searing, seething steam

that shriveled up the margins of tenebrous muck.

Guanyin paused, apparently listening.

but her lips unravelled an inaudible spell.

the fluorescent green took on a pearly sheen

laying on the layers of a lacquered shell.

then fresh light filtered through her fanned out palms

as Mary popped out and the mantle divided.

the portal shuddered, flashing like a pulsar
and the ravenous thrust promptly subsided.
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- Evan Hawthorn, the 29^th of October, 2015