Vandergriff House

I approached a weeping willow tree
down the lane from my own abode
and there sat nyx, tall and eery,
tired from the winding road
“Have a seat, pretty lady,” he says to the wind
and the breeze dances in my direction
“The manor over there fell due to great sin,
and its tale is in my possession.”
nyx looked to the moon, silver hair glowing,
and I looked over to the run down house.
It sat on the banks with a wide river flowing,
abandoned of all life, not even a louse.
“Home to Metske Vandergriff, a shipping heir,
whose Dutch pride flowed through his veins,
and his wife, Ariadne, with long black hair,
a Greek beauty destined to reign.
The couple had nine offspring,
all beauties with blue eyes.
The children expected to become queens and kings
all met an early demise.
We’ll start with the oldest: Rembrandt was his name,
his father’s first and most-loved son.
The boy was a victim of worldwide fame
and at age twenty-four, to drugs he succumbed.
Gorgeous Vannaleigh, blonde and tall,
always went against what Mommy thought best
and one drunken night, she took a great fall
and landed with a spiked fence in her chest.
Haris was a genius, his brown hair long,
and always put his ideas into motion,
Until one day, his experiment went wrong,
and he perished in the explosion!
Victoire and Alena were identical twins
quite obsessed with their own vanity.
Plastic surgery complications did them in
and left their faces- and lives!- in calamity.
Cleopatra was a bratty teen
who constantly complained of her strife
She spent her days whining and being quite mean
Until a car crash took her life.
The last boy, poor Vince,
the black sheep of the herd
washed it all down with a cyanide rinse
and joined his siblings in the dirt
Anastasia was a golden girl
but met a bad crowd in her rebellion phase
When she ran away, her boyfriend caught her
and set her pretty body ablaze
Athena was the last Vandergriff child
and played it safe to secure a good fate.
Rather than wait in the home for a death so vile,
she packed up and managed to escape.”
Nyx finishes his tale
and I turn my back to the tree
I can feel the spit in my mouth go stale,
and with that, I decide to flee.
“Remember the Vandergriffs!” he screams,
“and play it safe out there!”
I run far away from this horrifying dream,
the Vandergriff’s story I shall forever adhere.
♠ ♠ ♠
This piece is included in my school's poetry, art and literature magazine 2010-2011.