Classic story told
Ancient warrior turned god
of the darkest kind
Blood now is the life
Pain etched on the palest face
driven by this thirst
Perfect allegory
perhaps, of a need profound,
banishing all light
Once proud man of faith
focussed cruelty and rage
on the battlefield
Down the centuries
stalks this strange and restless ghost
to fair England’s shores
Oh Wallachian prince!
Is it strange to see your fate
turned to dark romance?
Or your legacy
tempered by the years that pass
to a lighter hue?
You who raged your truth
in your bloodied purge of all?
Mercy so bereft
Surely still the fear
that attended word of you
should somehow remain?
We forget the past
In our dance of deep desire
Lose essential truth
Let us see the signs,
this relentless legacy
in its tragic end.
(c) Helen Valentina 2013, All Rights Reserved
helenvalentina 
Very, very well done! It’s hard to keep a story going through a series of haiku. 😀
My friend is in Serbia; visited Romania and evidently he is a hero there to many. Keeping the Ottomans out, etc. Still … hard to see someone impaling his own people turning into a hero! Read an in-depth history of the guy and his times and it’s quite a complicated story. I think he was wildly abused as a kid which doesn’t excuse it, but it does perhaps explain it.
Ever read about Elizabeth Bathory, btw? She makes Vlad appear sort of normalish …. yeesh!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_B%C3%A1thory
Great job!
Thanks so much – it was a bit of a test to see if I could do haiku any justice, so your thoughts are very much appreciated! Vlad’s life is interesting, though it is bizarre that he is a hero…the original Stoker vampire probaby fit, but the vampires we get in modern literature, perhaps not so much! 🙂 And yes, Countess Bathory..was she ever a piece of work!! 🙂
She was scary evil! Nothing heroic about her at all … chilling!
Yes, you did a BRILLIANT job on these haiku — I really enjoyed it and hope you’ll do more! 🙂