Sonnet of Panic

Still as a carcass with flesh still intact

At the floor of my waterlogged aquarium,

With thought trains in tandem of fiction and fact,

I wish fervently in blood for a requiem.

Red lights form streaks, inducing delirium,

Tormenting me through the glass wet with rain —

Vultures of the sea, disturbing equilibrium

In the land of the living; I’m in their domain.

All’s stolen from me in stark flashbacks again;

Torrents of rain create pressure inside

Of my aquatic prison, decorated in vain

Superficially for my pain they must hide.

As these walls crumble, I traverse dark dreams,

And my body tightens and tears at the seams.

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Vent Art

Tomorrow I’ll meet you and give you a paper

As white as the bright light that pierces our eyes;

You’ll flip it, and with your fingers it you’ll taper,

In wonder, with questions: some whats and more whys.

 

I’ll tell you it’s artwork with insincerity;

Despite it displaying, in pure clarity,

Evidence of nothing that’s left from a caper

Of line art and shading, not art in disguise.

 

The light in your eyes will vanish into vapor

After you first take the time to realize

That nothing is something, but my “artful” paper

Cannot represent the pain I feel inside;

 

That I am a lie, but am also verity,

Pristine in corrupt, defunct insanity —

That I failed both to draw and to then escape her,

The one who prevented my movements likewise.

No One, Child, and Me

Nothing is to be seen;

I turned off all the lights

After everyone left.

 

Murky black, yet pristine

Shade now suspends the sights

That haunt this room, bereft

 

Of all life but the scream —

Man, woman, child in fright —

Silently, she is deft.

 

Silhouettes rip the seams;

Hands gripping in the night,

Hoping for what I’ve left,

 

Collapse as she’s unclean;

For now he’s torn her tights

Forming tendril-like weft.

 

Why had he been so mean?

How had No One lost sight

Of the woman who left?

 

No One saw her — he leans

Toward the ignorant light

Aura ’round child who wept.

 

Child pleaded; child did please

No One even in fright

After family left —

 

No One, the one who teased

Child, who was scared despite

Man and woman who left.

 

No One’s friendly, but he’s

Deceptive, and tonight

Child’s illusion he reft.

 

“Feel safe no more,” his mien

Seems to imply — so tight

Hands choked, her safety cleft.

 

Now I attempt between

Flashbacks to close my eyes,

But they can’t stop themselves;

 

No One is here for me;

Child lies near, for tonight

He’ll taunt ’til No One’s left.