Spiral Stairs

The Spiral Stairs is a short, creepy poem about a ghastly murder and a ghostly reenaction that happens every night.

The narrow staircase leads the way
Up to the padlocked door
Below, the hall’s as dark as sin
With bloodstains on the floor.

Nobody knows who climbed halfway
To where the stairs is bent
What crouching figure waited there
With murderous intent.

And no one knows what now ascends
The thirteenth step and stops
And flutters like a dying bird
Before it moans and drops.

One night, I stepped into the hall
Reciting whispered prayers
And to my horror, saw what stands
Upon the spiral stairs.