 Ichabod's Ride Darkness falls upon the thicket as it gets late into the eves On the wings of a strange wind is a howling on the breeze With the clippety clop of horses hooves coming up the lane Trodding along on horseback is no other than Ichabod Crane Through the woods of the dark forest, he gallops in the night Traveling by the way of the moon, which is his only light Through the shadowy weald eyes peer at him as he rides He nervously whistles -as he nonchantly picks up his stride Deeper into the drowsy woods with its skeletal trees He tries to think of something pleasant to put his mind at ease So he pictures his love, Katrina, who is engaged to the mighty Braum Bones And fancies his thoughts to stealing a kiss, the next time they are alone But his thoughts are interrupted, as he's startled by the tree toads croaks It's deep throated cry,"Ichaboddd"....."Ichaboddd".... he picks up his pace and tightly grasps his cloak It is in this witching hour that the mind likes to play tricks When moonlit shadows can take the form of a witch Or two boughs rubbing together that loudly moan Would make any mans heart skip a beat, that was riding alone More frightening yet is the hoot owls shrill That gives him goosebumps and sends a chill Signaling a warning that danger is near Is his imagination giving away to his fear So he gallops a little harder as he wonders to the superstitions of this hollow And he's shakin' with this queer sensation that he is being followed It is then that his ears turn to the whinney of a stallion that stands ahead His teeth chatter as he lays eyes upon a towering man with only a pumpkin for his head His fear increased with each second that passed and sweat beaded up on his face He gave his horse a swift kick in the side, which began this race They plummeted through the thicket, through the hollow, around every corner and bend No matter Ichabods effort,it was as though the horseman was riding on the wind He rode fiercly in the night with no time to catch his breath For if he stopped even just for a second, that could be his death At one time he thought he lost him and reveled in his escape Till he felt the firey breath of the stallion and saw the Horseman's cape He whipped his horse harder now and again started this chase Through the night hooves echoed in the hollow from this race Morning eventually broke, but the only sign of Ichabod was his trampled hat Speculations of what happend to him were the topic of the breakfast chat Some say the horseman took his head, while others think he rode to another town Then there are those who say, that deep in the hollows when the sun goes down If you listen you can hear Ichabod still running from the horseman to this day Trying to cross the covered bridge,still trying to find a way Whatever happend to Ichabod, I guess we will never know And that, my friend, is how the legend came- to Sleepy Hollow. (c)copyright 2006 all rights reserved. Halloween Poems The Poetic Seasons Of My Soul |