.
The guests sip their wine,
sparkling deep garnet.
Laughter leaps off tongues;
necks bow to alcohol.
Sparkling, deep garnets
dance across the pale
necks. Bowed with alcohol,
eyes and thoughts slowly fade.
Dancing across the pale,
candle flames flicker and wane.
Eyes and thoughts slowly fade
as the light begins to die.
Candle flames flicker and wane:
chill winds slither through the hall,
and the lights begin to die,
choked by the airy anaconda.
Chill winds slither throught the hall
from the snow-drifts against the glass.
Choked by the airy anaconda,
voices lower and slow.
The snow drifts against the glasses
as the doors are blown open.
Voices, lower and slow,
hiss on the intruding wind.
The doors are blown open
as the flushed guests flee the cold
hiss on the intruding wind
of fleshless, uninvited guests.
As the flushed guests flee the cold,
laughter leaps off tongues
of fleshless, uninvited guests.
These guests sip their wine.
-A. Popp
.