Poem – OF VOLCANIC ORIGIN? (By Ray Gallucci)

 

OF VOLCANIC ORIGIN?

 

Was Frankenstein conceived,

As many have believed,

Of melancholy from

A summer without sun?

 

When gathered at the shore

Of Lake Geneva four

Of future Gothic fame,

Did lightning spark their flame?

 

The summer skies were dark,

Unnatural the stark

Of landscape Swiss in June.

Prevailing mood was gloom.

 

For just one year ago

Had Mount Tambora blown

Itself to smithereens.

Now browns instead of greens.

 

A global cooling spurred.

The growth of crops deterred

By atmospheric dust.

Sun’s yellow turned to rust.

 

Cold rain and constant clouds

Were Mary Shelley’s shrouds,

Where underneath she dreamt

Of life with God’s contempt.

 

For in that Gothic age

The supernatural raged

Such that a teenage girl

Could tale macabre unfurl.

 

But seems we owe some thanks

When burst Tambora’s flanks

For winds first filling sails

Of classic horror tales.

 

[su_gallucci]