Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
White Owl Apr 21
Mostly I sneak about under cover of night,
Fulfilling my awful aims away from broader sight,
For no one must suspect
The beast that dwells within their midst.

I am a master of concealment.
Smart and somber fabrics shield my skin
From the painful sear of daylight,
And my complexion, I keep like porcelain—
For no clean and delicate doll
Was ever suspected of reveling
In baths of hellfire
And drinking them up as greedily
As the desert soil drinks up a monsoon.
This façade I employ lest the people discover,
And ****** before me their holy images,
Burning me as if with a branding iron,
And driving me far from their dwelling
Into solitary desolation.

For in truth, I am an agent
Of offense and pollution
To all that is wholesome and good.
I entice man to share my fate.
He invites me in and I infect him –
The Imago Dei – with Death.
Driven by this curse, this unholy hunger,
I live only to eat –
That is, if one could even say I live.
There is no glory, no beauty in this state.
My eyes are as gleaming stars
And my skin is as a moonbeam,
But the flesh beneath is always freezing,
Always cold and always screaming
In agonized starvation
For more of what makes it sick,
The only warmth it knows being gleaned
From the bodies of its meals.
A quietly blaring reminder to me
That I am the Dead walking.

This night begins as many before it.
My clothes blotted crimson with fresh sin:
The stain of another’s flesh.
The latest meal to leave me ill,
And yet more hungry still.
I tread the gray and lifeless streets,
My dead frame mustering no defense
Against the chill of night.
All is dark and still, as no sound, no soul,
And scarce a light the night gives
To interrupt the feast within –
The Hunger consuming all thought,
And the Cold consuming all feeling.
My spirit sends out a silent plea
For, if not some kinder release,
A second death.

My wandering stops before the chapel,
The only structure affording light or color
To Nyx’s bleak realm.
The candles and lamps still all alight
Send cascades of rainbows
Surfing down upon beams of gold
Through the glass mosaics
To the ground outside.
Something in this ethereal beauty
Grasped something in my soul.
I wished to crumble, to sob,
As I felt so alien from whatever it was
That infused this light to make it good.
Yet I wished to float, to hope,
As here it was, pouring down before me—
Onto me.

Looking in then from afar
Through the colored glass,
I saw behind the altar raised high
On his execution tree,
The image of the Lamb
With sorrow carved into His face
And wounds painted onto His side.
My eyes stayed fixed to that solemn sight
Till they ran with salt.
“They say You came
To make clean the Unclean,
To wash away every vile stain
That corrupts Your Image,”
Said I.
“They say You were sent
To ransom the Dead;
To free the captives
Of Hades’ rotten grip.
To bring bread and water
That ceases all thirst and hunger,
And gives Man second life.
Were You not?”

As the question left my lips,
I heard from around the corner
A creaking in reply.
Curiosity spurred,
I crept around to find
The doors an inch ajar,
With a widening sliver of golden light
Pouring forth from within.
Such a peculiar glow it was,
So pleasant yet so frightfully strange.
It did not burn,
But was rather as a balm,
Or a mild, warm rain.
There I stood for many moments,
Rendered motionless
By a blend off sedative calm
And paralytic fear,
Until, carried on the streams of light
Came a gentle whisper to my ear
That spoke the sweetest, simple words:
“Dear wayward child, enter in.”
Apr '25
WHY JUST WHY???
Is what I ask,
Things are hectic,
I can't even leave
it in the past,
I want to let it go, but
LIFE BRINGS TO US STRUGGLES,
It HARD to ENDURE IT,
It BRINGS so MUCH TROUBLE,
I just don't UNDERSTAND IT,
WHY, I ASK WHY????
As I FIGHT BACK TEARS,
LOOKING UP INTO THE
BLUE HEAVENLY SKIES,
This is
EMOTIONALLY DRAINING,
I'm trying to get an
UNDERSTANDING,
This is just so
DEMANDING,
I am not even
COMPREHENDING, and
I am even not here
PRETENDING,
as these TREACHEROUS,
HARD
days goes by,
whipsersng in my
head softly,




why just why????


B.R.
Date: 4/19/2025
Debbie Apr 15
A heart purrs and pounds
with ecstatic sound.
In synchronicity.
With another heart breaking,
a somber shattering,
slicing soul's ground.
Butterflies flutter
and bats shriek.
Agony's sun to ecstasy 's moon.
A perpetual gnaw to taste love's truth.
And drip with it's bittersweet juice.....
Ariana Apr 9
For a while she wondered
Why it was all so easy before;
Flour on the table
Coffee in painted cups
Hand in hand
Hearts beating softly
Bed always made
Until they un-made it in
wild throes of passion.

She wishes someone told her how
the hours between sunset
and sunrise stretch
impossibly long when
Home starts to feel like a house.
Suddenly Husband and Wife
are now man and woman,
strangers sitting tensely
on a park bench wondering
if the other harbors dangerous intentions
or if they’re safe here.

Irrationality and Reaction
knock at the door together
and throw it open without waiting.
She turns her back on their guests
and for a while she wonders
why it was all so easy before.
rhenee rose Apr 1
Am I suffering beautifully?
Do I wear my agony like a crown?
Adorn it with pearls and jewels,
And parade it into town?

Is my pain reasonable enough?
Do I raise it up or tone it down?
I’ll try to cry pretty, tiny tears,
In fact, I'd do it in my gown!

For even in despair, I should be desirable,
Dare not to be emotional, dare not to make a sound.
To be a woman is to bleed, but glamorously.
There shall be glitters in the meltdown.
A poem about how society expects women’s pain to be palatable.
Nothing to fear but fears own stab.
The dread of despair to make its grab.
The heart fills and there is no respite
but the healing of time and to cry a bit.

To stay away and avoid at all cost.
To prevent the discomfort of equilibrium all lost.
All one has to do is plan up a plot.
To schedule and scheme up the ok or not
Kept to behold the dread of all dread
The All too encompassing Should in its stead.

But soon to discover an irony to set its tone to rise.
As the Should takes on a life of its own ends
The Tyranny of The Shoulds really ought to be banned
The 'Benevolent' perhaps to take up its stand.
Still like the waters, bright like the sun.
It never stops flowing, show me if there is more.
Ye shall be ecstatic, yet quick in ranting
Foul words run loose, the music shall be exciting.

2. Spirit is happy, soul is ******.
Love quite an illusion, the aftermath is commotion.
Sing my hymns, the hymns of joy, feel my pain, the music thou shall pay.
Every color is unique, my advice to you.
Death is a gift, embrace it be cool.
Raven Mar 10
BRING ME HOME
I scream into nothing
For the words will not leave
My vocal chords
Because not even I know what I mean

BRING ME A HOME
I beg the shadows that I see
When out alone at night
For I cannot beg a person
To give me that light

Home
Is all I beg for
Home
Is all I cry for
Home
Is all I long for
Home
HOme
HOMe
HOME

BRING ME HOME

But where is home
Or better yet

What is a home?

Is a home something I'll ever get?

You feel like I home
But I need something permanent
Or maybe just your arms
Around my body
Surrounding me
Until I'm buried

But no
You're not a home
You're a life
You're my life

So where (what) is home?

I'm breathless
And aching
And cracking
And breaking
As I beg and I claw
My way to a place
That I don't even understand
That I don't even think
I will ever reach

There is no home for me
With a burning fire
And a warm bed
And a happy setting

There is only an abandoned
Cold
Empty
House
With floorboards exposing nails
And windowsills that leave you splintered

There is only an abandoned house
With no blankets but the clawing
Lonely thoughts

There is only a house
But not even
For a house would still give shelter
And this place only leaves you

Nothing
For you were nothing
From the day you were born

Abandoned from the second you breathed

Nothing
Nothing
NOTHING
Mar/10/2025
Morgan Howard Feb 13
The silence is deafening.
How many days has it been?

I can almost make out the faint calls,
Of someone in the distance.

But just as quickly as they appear,
They vanish without a trace.

So, I sit against the wall,
Hugging my knees to my chest.

Scratches on the rough concrete behind me
Marking the depth of my agony

How long will I rot in this cage,
Before someone notices that I am missing?
We saved the world. We threw the last bomb into the crowds of rotting bodies and decaying brains. We crossed one final street and shut the gates behind us. We were safe. Or so I thought.

We celebrated—a fleeting, fragile moment of peace. Amid the laughter and relief, all I could do was watch him. He was in the center of it all, embracing everyone who had gathered around him. Then, I saw it—a trickle of dark liquid seeping from his jacket.  

My heart stopped. My joy shattered into panic, and my lips quivered as I whispered in fear. The world has already been burned, and yet—burned even more as my body slowly shaken in agony.

“No. That can’t be. Oh God, no—please!”  

I ran to him, my hands trembling as I lifted his jacket. The truth was undeniable. It was there all along. He had been bitten.  

I froze, panic gripping my chest. I choked until I could not breathe anymore.

He didn’t speak a word. He didn’t have to. His eyes met mine, and I saw everything. He knew. He had known all along. He had insisted we go to Churchill Street first, pushing through the pain, enduring the wounds inflicted into his tired body. He wanted to make sure we were somewhere safe before it all happens. Somewhere where the night isn’t a nightmare
—and then turn into one of those lowly rotting bodies we used to aim our guns with.

“How dare you, Sid!” I choked on the words as tears streamed down my face. Before I could say more, he collapsed to the ground.  

“Can you sing me my favorite song?” he whispered, his voice soft and strained.  

I opened my mouth to protest, to beg, but his pleading gaze stopped me. I nodded, holding back sobs, and began.

“Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful  
Beautiful boy  
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful  
Beautiful boy”


As I sang, he reached into his pocket and handed me a pair of eyeglasses I had been wanting for so long. They weren’t my usual prescription, but I took them, holding them to my chest as if they were a piece of him.  

I cupped his face and pressed my lips to his, tears mingling with our fleeting touch. Then I lay beside him on the cold ground, holding him close as I finished the song.

“Goodnight, Sid,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “See you in the morning.”  

He smiled, content, and mouthed the three words we used to say to each other before every battle.  

“Sleep now, my beautiful boy,” I said, my voice trembling with sorrow. I kissed his forehead and whispered a final prayer for him as his eyes slowly closed.
a flash fiction with some elements of post-apocalyptic fiction that I really wanted to write. I missed writing creative stories and plainly using my imagination. it’s good to know I still have it in me. hope you enjoy :)

song: beautiful boy - john lennon
Next page