Encounter

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At midnight, in the month of June,
I stand beneath the mystic moon.
An opiate vapour, dewy, dim,
Exhales from out her golden rim ...
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The wanton airs, from the tree-top,
Laughingly through the lattice drop -
The bodiless airs, a wizard rout,
Flit through thy chamber in and out,
And wave the curtain canopy
So fitfully - so fearfully -
Above the closed and fringéd lid
'Neath which thy slumb'ring soul lies hid,
That, o'er the floor and down the wall,
Like ghosts the shadows rise and fall! ...

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This bed for one more melancholy,

I pray to God that she may lie

Forever with unopened eye,

While the pale sheeted ghosts go by!

Though the experiences of Elizabeth Wojdyla and Barbara Moriarty in early 1967 formed a small part of the inspiration for this cemetery scene, it was by no means the sole contributor. The painting melds numerous experiences that were held in common into a pictorial statement which hopefully captures the eerie mixture of fascination and fear that frequently accompanied supernatural encounters with the undead.

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