Čachtice

I

It is the winter solstice
somewhere in Transylvania,
a far away land.

The castle stands alone on a hill
overlooking a quiet village,
white fields either side
of a frozen river.

From a casement,
a dark-eyed woman watches a peasant
pushed roughly through a guard arch
onto the terrace.

Bound and gagged,
fleshy cheeks drained,
the naked girl staggers, shivering.

Cryptic voices whisper glacial tales.
Erzsébet smoothes soft fingers
along lichened stone.

In the black-beamed passage,
long-eared bats tilt in darkness.
Their mistress grows younger
by the day.

II

A dwarf with stained teeth
and cavernous eyes
kicks the serving girl to the ground.

Sinewy henchmen
surround her with buckets.

She dreams of the cottage,
her mother and father,
and drifts, dazed, sprawling, paralysed.
Crisp snow glistens.

Yew trees heave
at the edge of her sight;
the wind tastes sharp
deep green as pine needles.

Breath slides,
the smell of ice rises
above the fortress shadows
towards rushing light.

Notes:

'Čachtice' was inspired by the infamous Elizabeth Bathory, a sixteenth century Hungarian countess, who allegedly murdered more than 650 young women. She enjoyed watching icy water being thrown over her victims outside, in the Transylvanian winter. The castle of Čachtice in northwest Hungary was one of her homes.

November, 2008