He Comes From The Dark

A poem about sadness come to life.

This is my response to day 19 of Bradley Ramsey’s Halls of Pandemonium challenge. The prompt is to write a story or poem where one of your own characters comes to life and wants to kill you. I wrote about what would happen if the monster from my novel Mr. Haunt came to life and grew tired of me not giving in to my depressions. It’s a long story behind a longer story. Anyway, Mr. Haunt is out in 2028 from Sley House Publishing!

I am not alone in the dark.
He dwells at the edge
of what I cannot see.
I can hear him;
see his eyes
the color of rotten cherries

He calls my name
the sound of it on his tongue
the negative of
laughter and love
but with all the intimacy
of those precious feelings

I'm as real as maggots.

approaching me
He laughs
with all the warmth of
a twilit storm cloud
never before have I
felt so naked

"Why are you here?"

I've always been here.

"Never so close."

I grow impatient.
You refuse to take up
the razor blade paintbrush
and make for me
something beautiful
something real

I no longer care about
the color of your soul
I just want to
see you broken
see you beaten
see you empty

He wraps his jagged claws
around my throat
holds me under
the viscous shadow
of his twisted,
lonely realm

I'm too weak.
I thrash and kick
until breathing is a battle
until moving is a curse
until the very act of life
grinds and crushes and burns

She reaches into the Black
and takes my shriveled hand
away from Him She pulls me
into the warmth and light
into the place I knew before
that place inside Her Heart

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