this room
this narrow dark room
altered the very course of fate of some people
here where the light can no longer reach

this would be a place
that I wish I could wipe from
my memory but it sticks there
in the back of my mind
the insatiable all-consuming darkness

the tortures that came upon me
were unspeakable
they pricked at the tenderest skin
that I had, and sawed it
back and forth
with the dullness
of a fingernail that
was bit off
clawing at my throat
day in
and day out

it bent not only my will
but my ability to conceive hope
and yet I still hung on to the
thinnest of threads;
memories
of a far away place
where everything is bathed in sunlight
where warmth is as
common as air

the light thinks it travels faster,
faster than anything
but little does it know that
it finds darkness was there
first, just waiting patiently