by LindaAnn LoSchiavo
“It seems one night, these Christian witches said, /
Tales of the Islands” by Derek Walcott [Chapter IX – “Le Loupgarou” from “In a Green Night: Poems 1948–1960,” Jonathan Cape, 1962]
He changed himself to an Alsatian hound, /
A slavering lycanthrope hot on a scent …”
He’d come to Saint Lucia – already ruined.
This hex might be lifted, for a fee, by
Ells, an Obeahman, trained to chase fiends
Away, neutralize maledictions with
Spiritual protection – but from whom?
Why is different skin seen as a threat? He’d
Have to try. Plead. Bribe. Together they made
A potion – mixed with his half-wolf blood, a
Unique spell. Call it “a devil’s bargain.”
“Why the Wolf Man Visited Saint Lucia” is 09 lines and 64 words in a Golden Shovel format.
Source: Derek Walcott’s poem Tales of the Islands, Chapter IX, “Le Loupgarou”
Line used: “ruined by fiends with whom he’d made a bargain.”
Native New Yorker and award-winner, LindaAnn LoSchiavo is a member of British Fantasy Society, HWA, SFPA, and The Dramatists Guild.
Forthcoming: “Dracula Before Stoker: The Prequel” (HallowHartt Publishing, 2026) and “Past Tense: Portraits and Poems of Suicides” (Prolific Pulse Press, Jan. 2027).
Find out more about her on Substack @GreenwichVillagePoet
Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/lindaann_loschiavo
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