The Mammoth Book Of Vampire Stories Written By Women

"My only insight about vampires is that they suck," reveals the writer. "This poem was written with a melody in my head (I was writing songs for Boiled in Lead at the time, as well as for the Flash Girls and Lui Collins), but the melody has gone away."

VAMPYR

We stalk the dark,

Live in the flood.

We take the madness

In the blood.

A moment's prick,

A minute's pain

And then we live

To Love Again.

Drink the night.

Rue the day.

We hear the beat

Beneath the breast.

We sip the wine

That fills the chest.

A moment's prick,

A minute's pain.

Our living is not

Just in vein.

Drink the night,

Rue the day.

We do not shrink

From blood's dark feast.

We take the man,

We leave the beast.

A moment's prick,

A minute's pain.

We live to love

To live again.

Drink the night,

Rue the day.