Close your eyes
When you think of the word "cannibals"
We think of animals eating their own kin
Open your eyes
When you witness "cannibals"
They are human devouring each other
Ferociously for wealth, power, and dominance
Societies are full of cannibals
Hidden under a shroud of deception

Her dress is red,her eyes are too..silver tears surrounded by black and blue. greens and yellows ,fading down her back. Her mind is dark, her hearts gone black. Scars of white across her wrists, arms a pink /purple blend..all the colors and yet theres no gold ,at this painbows end.

Wind blows recklessly
wild, sun kissed hair
my dreams die in the summer air

****** into a turbulent nexus
Exceeding ability to cope
Sucker-punched in my solar plexus
Victim of life's rope-a-dope


© 2020 by Mark Toney. All rights reserved.

A lonely girl,
With vacant stares,
Screaming in silence,
But no one cares;
Her pain goes unnoticed,
No one can tell,
She smiles like an Angel,
But is living through hell;
Her eyes brim with madness,
She cuts her own skin,
Her sad little smile,
Fades and grows thin;
Scars on her body
Scars on her soul
This hateful world
Has taken its toll

Life,
Pain,
Betrayal,
Loss,
Grief,
Depression,
Hatred,
Are all related.
Happiness,
Joy,
Laughter,
Are just illusions
And a phrase.
Like a candle
It can only last so long
Until it is no more.
Then reality sinks back in.
You are worse
Worse than before the candle
Now you know
What it’s like
To have the smell
The smell you now long for
So you try to find another
Way to feel the way you did
But it never last
You are having to face the truth
But the thing about the truth
Is it always changing.

I walk in a minefield of egos
tiptoeing around pet peeves
dodging triggers
careful with words
very careful with words
quick with a compliment
soft with a suggestion
very soft with a suggestion
taking abuse with a smile
taking abuse with a smile
taking abuse with a smile

In the dark and deep interiors
Where harsh reality prevails
Where no state's aid knocks
A gruesome tale it entails
Where woman is a mother,
Sister, or a guileless daughter
Behind veils of ignorance
Where poor is beaten excruciatingly
For solely out of wantonness
A young girl writhing with pain
Fear, dysphoria of social shame
Where age-old myths are sacred
In their glum and gloated atmosphere
Where harsh reality prevails
Out of sophisticated, sedentary lifestyles
In the dark and deep interiors
Where backwardness is upheld...