tara caribou
poetry & short story author – artist & nature lover
Scarecrow Hotel – Collaboration
Somewhere east along Highway 37
A neon sign flashes intermittently vacancy
The Scarecrow Hotel remains alone
Stained threadbare carpets muffle TVs
And tearful phone conversations
Sixteen parking spaces yet only four filled
Warm shower and a sagging bed for the night
The ancient bricks lure the demented and sick
Vultures eying through the windows
Black and blue clouds crying endlessly
Wooden floors feeling troubled feet
Surrounded by ravens and blackbirds
Five miles east of the bloodhound river
She threw her suitcase on the queen
Predictably it flew wide open
The latches never held right, just like her heart
Two changes of clothing to cover her bruises
He’ll never touch her again but
Wrinkled clothing and a wad of cash
Don’t heal scarred faces
The letter “E” is barely visible in the sign
Voices humming a overture in the cellar
Last names engraved on walls by spirits
Doorknobs hanging by three threaded bolts
Driveway gravel is black as night
Welcome mat covered red ants
He stares into the chipped mirror
Five o’clock shadow daily dulls razor blades
Just like the rings that dull his once bright eyes
The phone bill shows her increasing texts
Every time he travels to pay for her wants
More hours, more money, more fancy things
Less of him with less of her, he looks away
Dark stories unfolding in the rooms
Sheets covered in lies and betrayal
Cigarette smoke stirring up shadows
Tiny cracks in every bathroom’s mirror
Brown mustard dripping from faucets
Stained tears found in the corners of closets
She hears voices not her own
Listens every day upon a rented bed
One weekend she opened her eyes
Bloody hands and a very dull knife beside her
Finally a quiet clean house
Ever since then she lives with a smile
Mama taught her little girl don’t take no shit
Storytellers, dreamers, and howlers visit
Intending to sleep but fall in the depths
Replaying memories of the past
Cynics and liars raise a toast at the bar
Tipping the bartender bullets instead of dollars
Quarrels served at the table tops
He loosens a tie used as a tourniquet
Money well spent on the tricks of a whore
Last Friday he played two gigs stacked
Brain damage found in riding a white horse
Picks up his guitar and hums a few chords
Remembers the eyes of a lover
It’s another night, another hotel, another road
A neon sign flashes vacancy nonstop
Full of headaches, screams, and lost souls
Built on a cemetery of the Crowe family
Generations of terror between 6am and midnight
Sleep is just a word inside these haunted walls
Stories never die…
tara caribou & Braeden Michaels | ©2021
I’ve just got to say, I love this collaboration. Braeden didn’t say a whole lot other than to give me a hotel name to start off with and to think of the type of people who would stay there. I love all the dirty, dark details that I myself pictured as I wrote my parts.
54 Comments on “Scarecrow Hotel – Collaboration”
tara caribou 
Very good collaboration! I really enjoyed reading it!:):)
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Thank you Stella. I’m glad you liked this.
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You’re welcome!:)
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I hope you’re doing well today.
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I’m doing good!:) it was a nice weekend and have an extra day off with my daughter today. That always makes me happy. Thank you and I hope you are smiling today!:)
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Oh sweet, extra days off are the best.
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Yes lol!:)
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Really vivid poetry! I can smell the grime and picture the gloomy atmosphere. Cracking read! 😀
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Thank you, Tom!! I’m so pleased you enjoyed this. I love the end result myself.
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Great job, both of you. It all flowed very well and I didnt miss the “Scar Crow Hotel” part. Very nice touch.
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Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I really liked how this turned out, myself.
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Thanks AC! It was a pleasure to write this and collaborate with Braeden. I liked the dark theme.
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nice collaboration in this narrative.
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Thanks Mark! I really enjoyed how this turned out.
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Excellent post. I was brought into the vivid picture that you painted of this sad, lonely, dark place. Very well written.
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Thanks Mary! I really loved how this turned out too!
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Hotels are the best landscapes and spaces for stories. Great piece, liked it…glad you are happy with the end product too!
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I do so love do collaborations with other great writers! Pushes me to be better.
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Reblogged this on johncoyote and commented:
Please read the amazing work of a talented writer.
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I enjoyed your work today Tara. I hope you are doing well.
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Thanks so much Mr. Coyote. I really appreciate you stopping by (and the reblog!!!)
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Was my pleasure and you are welcome Tara.
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This is really good.
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Thank you!! I really loved how it turned out too! Can you guess who did what parts??
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That’s very difficult to tell. I will guess you did the first stanza and then every other one. It really is a seamless piece, I really don’t see either of your signatures standing out.
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I love that. Honestly, that how I feel when you and I write together too.
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Yeah, we should do a poem together soon.
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I completely agree.
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I love this Tara. I can clearly see the hotel and its occupants. Love the images you use that suggest abandonment and desolation. Fabulous.
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Thank you so very much Andrea. I love that you enjoyed this.
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Such a great piece, you two. Particularly enjoying the stanza ‘she threw her suitcase on the queen’
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That’s awesome, Nick! I’m so glad you enjoyed this piece.
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Great collab….it’s like mixing water with water….the lines are simply flowing
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Thank you!! I agree, I love the flow.
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You’re welcome….I’m glad you agreed 😊
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Fantastic stuff. Good work, you two.
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Thanks Michael. Thinking on new collaborations, I remember my old ones. I had to share again.
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Atmospheric stuff. Great work. Remind me never to stay at The Scarecrow Hotel.
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Right! Me neither!! 😳 yikes!
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A story haunted place, but, then, what is a ghost if not a story seeking a voice?
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I think you’re right about that! Great thought… gives me more inspiration.
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OH! GOOD! Happy to inspire. 🙂
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Reblogged this on cabbagesandkings524 and commented:
From Tara Caribou, a collaborated story
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The letter “E” is barely visible in the sign – just one example of brilliance in this poetry- I could list much more and then the entire poem evokes such emotion, creates the stories & characters with such clarity. Absolutely amazing!
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Thank you! I loved how this turned out too.
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You are very welcome 🙂
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Marvellous 👏👏👏
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Dark and dirty, indeed!
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Yes! *shudders*
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It’s a good duet! Sung perfectly!
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Thank you. I do so love collaborations.
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Welcome! Same here. Keep them coming.
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great visuals, kudos to both of you 🥃🥃
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Thanks!
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