Blood Lantern He was in a strange, foreign land, Guided by a native woman, With olive skin and jet black hair, Dark eyes and short height, He wished to see a Blood Lantern tree, For such trees were ancient, And their fruits were said to offer light, In the middle of a moonless night. She took him to the giant tree, With warped and crooked trunk and twigs, Sitting upon a small hill. The fruits appeared to be so bright, And impossibly big. "Do not touch, do not tempt," The woman warned the man, To not pluck or taste any part Of the luminous melons. She sat to rest on one side of the tree, While he wandered to the other. His gaze fixated on a low hanging fruit, Its pink glow beckoning him closer. On his face be could feel the heat, He touched the fruit with one hand, And felt the warmth from its smooth skin, He touched the fruit with both hands, And noticed a pulsing beat. As he went to pull his hands away, The fruit came along with them, Though it was plucked from the tree, Its light remained the same. The fruit filled his senses with scents of citrus and plum, Causing him to salivate. He peeled back the skin and rind. Exposing the fruit's meat, The light began to dim, Giving way to its true hues, Of magenta, purple, Pink and red, And once all the skin was torn off, The light had completely gone. He dug his hand into the fruit, And he quickly began to eat, Gluttony took over, Juices ran down his chin and neck, Licking his fingers, biting into the rind, Picking the peelings off the ground, It tasted bittersweet, With a little hint of heat. As soon as he finished eating the fruit, He felt a burn inside, He could now smell a rot, As he began to wretch and heave, The burning spread throughout. He began to regurgitate, Spewing out blood, And chunks of his insides. He no longer had control, And he could hardly breath. Once his wretching seemed to stop, He fell against the tree, The woman had awoken and found the man, But before she could help him, He was swallowed by the Blood Lantern tree. And then the woman did flee, For of the man she could no longer see.

Dead Trees A group of dead trees still stand in the woods, With thin, brittle fibers jutting up from the soft ash and dust. Their ghostly pale and charred bodies seem to float upright in the heavenly glow of the moon, An owl lands on a twisted branch, Which supports the creature with creaks and moans, The owl coos in return, And glares at the#moonwith fiery eyes, Wishing the#moonhad arrived sooner, Sooner, And broke the sun's fiery rays before it was too late.

Penny Hoarder's Island There once was a teenie island, Where Penny kept all of his things, It contained fancy fabrics, gold and jewels, And dozens of diamond rings. Thirty three thousand dec'rative eggs, And sixty three thousand gems, Every time he came back with more, He'd swear we won't steal again. Penny took from the rich, he took from the poor, To the island, he brought all of it back, This was his addiction, this was his disease, Uncontrolled kleptomaniac. The island was so filled with trinkets and valued treasuries, Not a grain of sand was to be found, Not a blade of grass could breath. There was so much on one side, The island began to lean, So Penny brought more to the other side, And it leveled out, it seemed. Before he knew it, there was so much weight, Too much for his island to hold, The land began to sink and break, Taking with it all his gems and gold. Penny was in devastation, To lose all he had obtained, He refused to let go all he had loved, Everything of which he had claimed. So on Penny's teenie island, He decided to stay, And despite his attempt to salvage it all, Along with it, Penny went away.