A Token of My Love

Once upon an Autumn eve

among the death and falling leaves

a man stood proud and tall

what was amazing was that he stood at all

for his heart had been broken

and for that, he had taken a token

the lasses head as penance

with a woodsman’s axe, he’d made the severance

She’d put up a fight

in fact, she fought with all her might

but he was far too strong

and she didn’t struggle for long

and it only took a few swings

to sever it clean

She didn’t scream after the first

though the blood made his stomach lurch

the way it sprayed from her throat

as she gurgled her final quote

One for the ravens, he supposed

for what her words were he cared not to know