In times of despair;

Melancholic harmony

A man will venture

From the mountain top

Over looking the valley

His name is carried in a whisper

Throughout the disarrayed village

Ulysses the Medicine Man

The scent of his herbs carried through the air

Exciting the children in the near by orphanage

For with him he brings candy

And medicine for the ill

But how strange? that man,

Death seem to follow him

In an oddly suspicious trail

“We must bolt the door!” A mother panicked

“Why? _He_ cured our son of disease.”

“True as it may, we have been tricked!”

Her husband rolled his eyes, “Mary please!”

An odd figure that _man_ was

Tall and young

Grey eyes so lifeless

Cold to touch

Skin sickly pale even in the summer’s sun

The medicine man was at the door

A sweet smile plastered on his face

Too sweet. Sickly sweet

“I’ve come to cure you husband’s cough.”

Mary had no choice but to let in into their place

The room was filled with uneasy tension

And a nasty, rotten smell

“My husband will not drink that!”

Ulysses smiled and drank some of the liquid

“It’s fine, you see?”

“It will help him sleep.

And you as well

There are dark circles around your eyes.”

So the couple drank and fell asleep

But a mothers instinct never lies