Legend holds and here is retold
A vampire is buried in Colorado
Lafayette is not His name
Rather where he was laid
Hidden atop another man’s grave
Acorn seeded deep in his heart

Nearly 100 years passed
Before anyone noticed
The Tall, wafer thin man
Who sits as in effigy
Atop of the tombstone.

Beaver top hat, silk satin tailcoat
Thin hair sleek, slicked, black
Cheeks pale, deep hollows
Fireflies in his eyes reflect eras gone by

Boney dagger tipped fingers
To scratch in his coffin
Where he lingers by day
But under the moon he rends mortal flesh
Sallower then pale

Uninvited to the grave

As it once was in life it
Shall it be forever
In death
His wicked influence assures
No savior can spare them
Run don’t look back
Lest there be no hope for you too

Concentric trails of salt
Cherub faced dolls strung with silver rosaries
hung
From the tombstone like Mayan runes
Prayer evokes the Hail Mary
to which true believers cling

Crosses brandished shan’t tame them
Nor Cherub dolls satiate them
Salt how it tickles it cannot restrain them
The Old-timers should have told you
No…… well look here they can show you

Surrounding the tombstone grow bloodshot roses
Scented like droplets of blood
That bloom in the nose
As they drip from the teeth to the tongue
A sweet red wine they promise to sip
Like vibrant red lipstick it stains
their withered lips

Empty lungs sigh deaths wispy breaths
icy as mist
Distant harmonious voice sings
Open invitation they insist
Would you like to see our Stake?
Please don’t try to resist

Acorn did sprout an arrow straight taproot
Heroic gnarled White Oak upright marks the spot
Where nature finished what the Old Timers could not
Tis ironic the seed of a tree ended the evil blood drunken sot

• The Lafayette cemetery is open to the living
  But for how long?