In a perfect world, a stroll down a country path would not endanger your immortal soul.

Never take the path more than once.

TEXT:

If You Must Walk

Never stray from the path of crumbled red-brick,
Windswept remnants of fallen homes;
Stretching from the Vile Coast and then ’twixt
The ash of dead trees and the black standing stones.

If you have no choice but to walk this path,
Keep to it always and never walk it twice,
For if you do, you risk the squeezing grasp
Which shall drag you to the Screamers in a trice.

Walk the path only once, walk it alone
And heed the screams that sound in moonlight;
Heed the dreadful variety of tones,
Desperation and despair, anguish and fright.

Is it worth risking this eternal plight?
No, better to starve to death at home.

Copyright © Richard Paul 2017