Psychochronograph
Psychochronograph: Short Fiction Bursts
Witch Adder
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Witch Adder

A short poem for the spooky season
2

Witch Adder

by Jon Wesley Huff

Witch adder black
Witch adder green
Which is the rider
And which the unseen?

Witch adder crimson
Witch adder white
Which is the cure
And which is the blight?

Run to the mill
and run to river
Run past the straw man
Through briar and heather

Run past the winding road
Winds round the dead
Wave to the porchman
That holds his head

Witch adder silver
Witch adder yellow
Which is the sawbones
—that curious fellow?

Witch adder slithering
Witch adder blue
Which adder killed me?
Witch killed you?


Thanks everybody for listening to Psychochronograph audio. I hope you don’t mind me diving into spooky season a little early. I had planned to save this one for October, but then I realized I’ll have something more pressing to read for you then. My new book, In the Dark of the Grove, will be out next month (October) from Gurt Dog Press. The exact date is still up in the air, but I’ll let you know when it’s coming out. Don’t worry. And I'll be reading a couple chapters from it next time.

Witch Adder was written a couple years ago for Halloween. I find poetry difficult. I have written some, but rarely every feel like it’s good enough to share. The line between impactful poetry and not-great poetry always seem so razor thin to me. And i’m not even sure I’m a good judge.

But my main goal with Witch Adder was just fun. Something that incorporated a little bit of the lore I heard around the campfire as a kid. But mostly I just wanted it to be fun to read out loud.


Audio: Very Low Note by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4581-very-low-note
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

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Psychochronograph
Psychochronograph: Short Fiction Bursts
Horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and other fiction from the mind of writer Jon Wesley Huff.
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Jon Wesley Huff