SWEET CANDACE She loved to play around the swamp, to feel the mud beneath her stomp She learned to dance in nature's air and didn't notice those who stared The village felt a sudden change the well went dry from lack of rain Someone had brought this awful fate and so they picked an object for their hate The parson said she was possessed and made her wear a canvass dress The flames, he said, would purge her soul and save them from the demon's pull Her parents shunned to see her face she brought them such a huge disgrace Why had she spurned this awful fate? this question burned and further kindled hate At dusk the crowds began to grow and shadows danced in the fire's glow A burning witch was nothing new the devil finds work for idle hands to do As soon as Candace was consumed a lightning bolt shot from the moon It set the village into flames and burned into each heart the dead girl's name Sweet Candace on the fire did her dancing in the mire - Summer 1994, Ash Hall