As a wolf
Howls at the moon
It spues out
Fluttering butterflies
In the midnight.
Of moonlit
Darkness

My mind is a sinking ship
The world's set ablaze.
Holes punched throughout the hull;
Passengers drowned in a daze.

And her contents-
Well, they got claimed as
"Lost at Sea",
I guess no salvage crew
Ever saw what I could be.

Now I'm sitting far below
This thick sheet of blue.
The sun's light only shines once
Everyday, quarter to noon.

The quiet helps me think
As darkness swells within.
The ghosts roaming
These flushed halls
Are learning how to swim.

Now they've started a mutiny
To the captain's delight.
These spirits will all be free
Long before midnight.

The sun break's through the day after,
No wreckage to be found.
Everyone has floated up
To give life another round.

I look at the massacre around me
and see.
I see battalions of men and women fighting.
I see the corpses of the defeated
with the memory of blades on them
and the gratification of the victors
with their bloodstained swords in hand.
I see friends and family weep for the fallen
and swear to avenge them.
I see mothers hold onto the cold bodies of their sons
and fathers getting ready to bury their daughters.
I see orphans too young and innocent
to fully comprehend what is happening.

Some fight out of anger and spite
and others out of pride and duty.
Some say it is for their kings and religions
others, for their honour and blood.
On either sides, pain and grief
outshine triumph and satisfaction.

Amongst the combatants,
A man sits on his brown horse
watching the massacre unfold.
Hair and beard like flames,
scars on his face
and eyes the color of the blood being shed before us,
he stares straight at me
as a man is stabbed in the back right in front of us.

His face is expressionless,
almost like a mask,
and the only decipherable emotion
is the burning rage dripping from his gaze.

i am a black hole
spiraling at a speed
you will never truly fathom.

my process,
my power,
you will never understand.

there is a force within me
that draws you close, then
without your realization,
you pull away, changed.

inside me, you leave. your pain,
your sorrow, your guilt.
because i am capable.

My bare feet pace the same dust again
In this prison of old, weathered wood
And shattered china that was priceless once

Value is fleeting
Freedom is temporary
Why do you all take it for granted?

Sightseers are waiting for me downstairs
Another audience fascinated by the macabre
Expecting a grand performance
From me, the circus animal
Oh, how I mourn my dignity

I know how this story ends
It happens every time
And yet, my cold feet pad down the staircase again
As if new characters will change the denouement

My fingers brush against the blood-stained paintings
Portraits of those long dead
Swallowed by eternal rest
How I envy them

I step into the ocean of shattered glass without so much as a second thought
Here I am
I hope you're entertained

They stare at me with their terror spangled eyes
Some sort of sick intrigue
Their mouths ajar, spilling deafening breaths
Their scent and sound and image so sharp
I am hazy and dull, unfocused
But they are cuttingly crystal clear

Help
Can you help me?
I'm alone, and injured, and trapped
My hair is sticky with blood
You have to get me out of here

Please don't leave me alone again
Why are none of you LISTENING to me!?
I've been through this before
My voice is muddled, nothing more
Than an underwater scream

And it chased them away
Leaving me to wander the abandoned hallways again
There is nothing else to do
Nothing

The dust does not part for me
The oaken floors of the upstairs welcome me back
To the reality that I am trapped
In a prison of wood
And of my own ancient mind

the boy with tousled black hair met my gaze and cocked his head to the side. "come here", he mouthed with a grin that allowed his fangs, sharp and glinting, to come into view. they were like diamonds and i was a lapidary, fueled to engrave him into my memory. the other boy beside him was too busy placing kisses all over his pale neck to notice i had moved closer. eventually, he stopped. his silver eyes flashed into mine, and his lips barked a kind of laughter that brought a slick of sweat to my palms. "Claudius, who is this?"
Claudius stood up, his voice mocking. "our appetizer."
the urge to run kicked me to the stomach, but my feet couldn't sprint quick enough.
he pierced his fangs into my neck, and i drifted.

i think i'm in love
with a man drunk on the moon
i think he's a wolf

Slowly
Very slowly
I rise
Aware
Of my body
Lying still
Inside the box
I move up
Further
For a glimpse
Of the body
So empty inside
Sans me...