The Marie Celeste

 

Smokey shadows invade my mind;

flitting memories of troubled times

that lurk in foggy streets and dreams

to prey upon my soul it seems.

 

Blurred emotion rears its head

with appetite for pain unfed;

laughter dies in agony;

blunted whispers torture me

and I can’t see the sky.

 

Oh why now, from slumber rise

to stir my senses, yet blind my eyes

and prod my flesh, bold succubi…

 

Appear from darkness, carnage seek,

to ply your wares upon the weak,

to rip asunder men of hope

whose heart-strings serve you now as rope

with which to hang and slowly choke

and witness as you smile.

 

Begone ye demons of a past

where good men quarrel as lots are cast,

to share the spoils, the bones, the meat,

the severed head that tastes defeat

yet screams, still,

away from me, a cynic now I’ll never be,

but gouge my eyes for I still see

the ugliness inside.

 

And so contentment breathes again

upon my face and I have slain

the Beast of Chaos, turned to stone,

a statue of the times once known,

whose shadow now will mark my time,

from yesterday. Tomorrow’s mine.

A.D.