A FOLKLORIC FAMILY HISTORY: DAEMONIA

(a working title)

 

So if my family was still alive

The family reunion

On this Beltane Eve

Would resemble a wax museum

Of Horror creatures from books and film:

Vampires, flying Mortar & Pestle herbalists,

Shapeshifters, forest deities, poisoners,

And the wolfman I eventually marry

I’m Iris Versicolor

Yes, the name of a poison

Mama named all four of us girls

After poisons because

She never received the requisite

Amount of vampire bites

To make her completely immortal

So she filled up with toxic thoughts

Lost her moral compass

And grew poisons

By the time she went to Daemonia

To find Dracul, her grandfather,

Demanding he give her the last bite,

Her mind was consumed with

Deadly Night Shades,

Versicolors, Mercuries,

Arsenics and Hemlocks

An anonymous texter reported

Her death to me, using her phone

Said Mama was cremated

But we were welcome to be guests

Of Great-Grandpa Dracul

Daemonia’s a scary place

On the edge of the planet

I didn’t want to go

Then the war started and

The final cataclysm hit

Pulling the plug on electricity

Computers, air conditioners

(We lived in hot & humid Florida)

And no gas for cars

So my sister Belladonna stayed

She was pregnant and getting married

And the twins Arsenica & Arnica disappeared

So it was up to me to go

Anyway, have lots to tell you

Will probably repeat myself

But it’s all fun, I think…

 

HERE’S TO A HAPPY & HEALTHY BELTANE!

(Bright Fire, Beginning of Summer)

 

© 2025 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)

Image: Bright Fire