On the Road with Silver John: "Trill Coster's Burden"

[For previous ballads about the balladeer, click the "On the Road with Silver John" label under Features in the right sidebar.]


"Trill Coster's Burden"

John's good-hearted beloved Evadare ventures
To save the soul of a grieving man's deceased wife.
The volunteer sineater perhaps bites off too much, though,
When she assumes the spiritual debt of a truly iniquitous life.

For the sins take shape as misty, green-eyed beasts,
The predatorial byproducts of Trill's wayward behavior.
But a jealous temptress who herself has eyes for John
Interferes--and forms an unlikely, unwitting savior.


Manley Wade Wellman's short story "Trill Coster's Burden" can be found in Owls Hoot in the Daytime & Other Omens.