The Curse of Nieberwitz

This hideously long piece of drivel was written at Nasson for Halloween.

I don't remember if it was an assignment or a whim, but I know it was my

idea to make it 31 stanzas long (one for each day in October) which having

just had to type in, I now regret.

The night was dark and the fierce north wind

Made the trees do erotic dances.

It was, on nights like these,

The Nieberwitz took immortal chances.

Years ago on night like this

Jo Nieberwitz went for a walk.

He changed upon a pretty girl

And they began to talk.

He talked about his aging wife

She told him her dreams for love.

She mentioned he could come to her place

At the Holy Oaken Dove.

They ran up three flights of stairs

As fast as they could climb

And then they stopped outside her door

To hear the twelve bells chime.

Then she began to remove her clothes

And she offered him a bud

And while he was staring at her chest

She drank down all his blood.

But that was many years ago

The last day he saw the dawn

For now he hides in a coffin

Deep beneath his dying lawn.

Until the night regains control

And evil fills the land

Then Nieberwitz leaves his comfy bed

And stalks the blood of man.

Once a week or twice a day

It makes no difference to him

He's been doing it far too long

To consider it a sin.

He takes the blood of anyone

Be it foe or friend

And in their turn his victims too

Follow the undead trend.

One night he drank a couple

And was going to rest at home

When he saw a girl so beautiful

He must take her for his own.

Her name was Zilderalya,

And she was as beautiful as they come

So he hypnotized her

And they were as one.

But he had had his fill that night

And could not drink her dry

She pulled out a silver cross

Against which he would surely die.

It was Nieberwitz that recovered first

And realized her mistake

And as he knocked the cross away

He caused her neck to break.

She'd shown him a deep dark secret

Of faith and of religion

And now the odds seemed very slim

The Devil would ever get him.

So on night like these

With Zilderalya on his mind

He goes to the old neighborhood

And takes his chance to "die".

He leaves the safety of his house

And hopes for safe return

For if he does not survive the night

He knows his soul will burn.

He changes form to mangy bat

His eyes glow Satan bright

He glides near the Catholic church

And gains laughter from his 'fright.'

He stops to think of his mother dear

Who died in the distant past

He thinks and searches though his heart

And she speaks to him at last.

"I'll love you no matter what you do"

His mother had told him so

But would she love him if she knew him now?

That he doesn't know.

The picture faded as he flared his wings

And took to the wind again

He was crying as he entered the neighborhood

Where a child he'd been.

But he had made the mistake this time

For it was Hallow's Eve

And on that night they wait in droves

Men with reasons to believe:

That Vampires and Werewolves do exist

And will rip them linb from limb

So they wait with stake and stone

To rend his soul from him.

He flees to the safety of the graveyard

Few will follow him there

But when he realizes where he is

All he can do is stare.

He looks down upon the ground

Where moonlight strikes a stone

Jo Neiberwitz looks down upon his name

And he begins to moan.

His pursuers finally overcome their fears

And come upon him fast

Each can hear their heartbeat

And wonder if it's their last.

He could have destroyed them easily

But he did not fight back

They beat him to a bloody mass

He was more red than black.

They grew bored when they thought him dead

And they left without much fight

And some time later in his immortal way

Jo slipped back into the night.

His body scratched, he needs some blood

He looks for easy prey

Far below he spots a hag

Her hair an ancient gray.

Nieberwitz swoops down upon the lady

And pauses thinking of another

For one half fleeting second

He thought it was his mother.

Knowing that her life's at end

She repents upon her sins

She pulls out her sacred symbol

And that's what does him in.

He shrieks, he groans, begins to smoke

It's the end of the life hell gave him

Finally he turns to dust

Beneath the star of David.