The Spell

Four metres tall

or possibly five metres!

It stares at us

with one red eye

as we approach.

We pause,

held by its gaze,

not daring to move forward;

not wanting to retreat.

People join us,

but they go no further than we

as if hypnotised

by that same red eye.

Click, click, click . . .

Suddenly, the red eye disappears

and we are free

to go safely

across the busy road.

The little green man

has broken the spell!

Monty Edwards

•  Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #13
  

Monty says: “The prompt had me thinking of traffic lights, which seemed very mundane for a simple rhyme, so I felt I’d recast it to inject some drama using a bit of imagery and free verse.”