This post is for all my friends who like to take walks at night in cemeteries.

Annika, Dark Angel: A Poem

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Annika, Dark Angel,
In Lafayette No. One,
Cemetery guardian,
She watches the tombs alone

She knows each name by heart,
And each person’s history,
The year of each burial,
And forgotten mysteries.

There’s a Cherub by a small grave
Where a little child lies,
And an angel sits with folded wings
Moonbeams touch her eyes.

Annika sits by the Weeping Woman<
Whose hands hold an ash-filled urn,
She is veiled and bare of feet,
At times her head can turn.

Some have heard the statue whisper,
Seen tears on her face,
Shed for the living and the lost,
Who are buried in this place.

One night Annika fell in love
With a lonely writer,
Walking cemetery paths alone,
His heart was sad and bitter.

Taking on her human form,
She walked along beside him,
And softly took his hand and
Led him past graves sad and grim

“Why do you come here?”
She asked quietly,
He said, “I need the silence,
And to search sad histories.”

As they walked along together,
They opened up their hearts,
Feeling the hand of fate
And the fire of new love’s sparks.

She said, “I’m glad you came here,
And that you weren’t afraid,
But there’s something you should know
Before mistakes are made.”

Dressed in a black tunic,
Contrasting her porcelain skin,
She opened dark angel wings,
“This is how I will begin.”

“I am the guardian of this place,
And I can never leave.
But I’ll love you with an angel’s love,
That I hope you will believe.”

In a pool of moonlight,
She looked into his blue eyes,
And whispered, “I know I love you,
“And an angel never lies.”

He wrapped his arms around her,
And kissed her tenderly,
“I love you, my Dark Angel,
I’ll stay with you and will not leave.

She kneeled at the Weeping Woman,
And said, “No, this can never be,
For there’s only one dark way,
That you can stay with me.

“Your life is short,
Eternity here is long,
But come see me every night,
Our love can still be strong.”

They met together every night,
>Making love with many a kiss,
He read her poems and songs,
He knew she would one day miss.

The last time he saw Annika,
She waited in the moonlight,
On a tomb she spread her wings,
Then vanished forever in the night.

R. Pittman, 2024

Photography by Erin

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