A familiar gaze
They watch with blank expressions
An ache of absence

I gaze into the depths.
Its answers are truthful.
If I had the power
To reach within,
To change.
I would.

The ones who walk with shields.
They seek unnamed prophets.
The sorrows that hindered them.
Mold us.
Their lies.
Fool us.

Seekers of wisdom and humility.
Burn our lungs.
Empty us into cups.
The answers
Will free us,
But evade me.

Turn off the lights.
I'm frayed.
Cut me loose.
Take my strength.
Hold me.
Ground me.

The eyes are the window to the soul?

When you look at me do you see the cracked pane

Of a heavy prison door?

The image distorted beyond recognition,

It must be apart of your imagination.

The smoke and agony behind that panel of glass.

With a soul so tainted,

How could anyone smile?

Fiendish wires driven deep into the mind.
Subsisting on the chaos it compels unto others.
Craving lechery and deference.
When resisted the coils tighten.
Its weighted vines make it difficult to stand.
I know what it fears,
We are the same.
The threads are not mine.
If I controlled the them I'd do the same.
We are puppeteers.