The Grotesque

By Claire Casey

A mouth,
snarling at the world,
a figure of stone,
standing against
all the evils of this world
that threaten to overrun.

It forces them back
from whence they came,
and protects the building
that it calls home.
No evil shall enter,
or pass beyond,
the thick, ancient stone walls.
Not while this guardian
remains on at its post.

The world continues on past,
paying no head to the Grotesque,
all while the march
of modernity pushes forward
with little heed paid to what
had gone before.

The future beacons,
while the people below
choose to remain ignorant
of the protection offered
by that stone carved guardian,
whose ugly face they would rather
not be forced to look upon.

A Grotesque by name,
defender of all that is good
by nature.