This was written for a Halloween poetry challenge last year. It did take first place.

Criteria:
--Must be between ten and twenty lines in length
--Must contain the following words:
~isolated
~pale
~glowing
And...here's the cool part!! For added bonus points, use one, two, or all of these phrases: [Note: These are not required, but may act as extra credit toward your score if you choose to use them.]
>> 'spilled beside her'
>> 'a twisted chunk'
>> 'knife on the night table'

The night was overwhelming
as though it were trying to tell me
not to venture so isolated
lest I want to be berated.

My cold heart thumping loudly:
a twisted chunk so soundly
making its home within my pale body
hissing "beware the night" but oddly

here I am within the darkness
the ground feels cool, I confess
my hands are shaking not as I thought
they would with the pain they’ve brought.

The night winds start to shrill and scold me
as the bare tree limbs, they bend to hold me
tight on this one spot of Earth unseen.
Marble and granite - angels unclean.

Midnight eyes - they are all now glowing...
Murderous intentions are now all showing.
Damn you night! My soul you cannot save
I’ve gone to Hell with the digging of this grave.

©October 24, 2004 Lori S. Maynard