I pushed the tangled grass away

And lifted up the stone,

And flitted down the churchyard path

With grasses overgrown.

I halted at my mother’s door

And shook the rusty catch

—

“The wind is rising fast,” she said,

“It rattles at the latch.”

I crossed the street and paused again

Before my husband’s house,

My baby sat upon his knee

As quiet as a mouse.

I pulled the muslin curtain by,

He rose the blinds to draw

—

“I feel a draught upon my back,

The night is cold and raw.”

I met a man who loved me well In days ere I was wed, He did not hear, he did not see, So silently I fled.

— But when I found my poor old dog, Though blind and deaf was he, And feeble with his many years, He turned and followed me.

– Minna Irving, “The Return”

Related Posts:

– “November Night”

– “The Vampire”

– Love + Radio: Ghost Stories

Categories: Poetry and Prose

Tags: dogs, ghosts, girl's best friend, graveyard, halloween, Halloween poems, horror, love, Minna Irving, poem, poetry, spooky, spooky poetry, vintage, vintage photographs, vintage photos, Women in Horror