The moon comes up like it owes this ground a favor Iron gate sighs and the weeds lean in First one out the crypt don’t bother with a greeting Just a smile too clean and a thirst under the skin Vampire in a coat that used to be Sunday Moves like manners, drinks like sin He don’t run at you. He invites you closer And the night says yes before you even let him in Then the treeline breaks and the breath gets heavier Paws on marble, heat in the ribs Werewolf wearing the last of a man like a torn shirt Howl low and long like a hymn with teeth They don’t fight each other Not tonight Blood and fur keep to their sides of the stones This yard’s got room If you came past the gate, you already belong Oh— Monsters in the graveyard Fangs and fur and names the church forgot They don’t hide from the lantern They wait for the ones who thought they were just walking through After the gate There is no almost You’re company now A witch counts markers like beads on a string Dirt under her nails, old words in her mouth A ghoul sits easy on a fresh-cut date Chewing the quiet, spitting the doubt Ghosts don’t moan here, they just occupy the air Cold in the lungs, perfume with no girl attached Something winged and wrong on the chapel roof Watching who flinches when the gravel cracks I came looking for peace I could still take home Found a congregation that don’t need a priest Vampire says “stay” like it’s already decided Werewolf circles once and calls it a feast I should’ve used the road I learned the chorus instead You don’t outrun a yard that already learned your tread Oh— Monsters in the graveyard Velvet throat and a jaw that don’t forget They dance without music They hunt without hurry They let you think you chose the dark Then they keep you in it Midnight leans on the stones till the names go soft Fangs catch moonlight, fur steams in the frost Nobody asks if I’m living They just make a space One more shadow in the row One more mouth that learned to stay Don’t wait for sunrise to make them honest Dawn only thins them, it don’t make them kind Vampire buttons his coat Wolf puts the man back on And the yard goes still like it never had a mind But I know better I heard the howl I felt the polite teeth I walked in looking for quiet I left a little less me After the gate The monsters don’t scatter They just lie back down And keep the night warm For whoever comes next.
