Heathchester is tense and sullen. He knows.
Seduced by a governess at three, his start
in life was not a very good one.
Saturn is afflicted in his chart.
The servants are speechless and grim. They know.
But why does Mrs Danvers climb the tower
to wave her candle in the dark?
Every night, food is left at the back door.
His new bride is plain and worried. She knows
nothing. The housekeeper shows her up
and gives her only half the keys.
She tests the bed and thinks about lost sheep.
What is the meaning of it all? God knows.
The moon has clouded over, and the mire
claims yet another hungry soul.
Someone in the attic starts a fire.
Second Nature: James Lindesay’s Poetry 