The growth of guilt—
an unwanted mass,
The kind some claim is born from the curse of our ancestors’
former sins.
Arriving when you surrender to the starvation—
leaving skin bruised, and punctured
while quietly scoring the souls around you like bait.
Yet none of it concerned you—
eyes filthy with rose coloring, self-done.
A smile man-made,
created by the hand of influence.
Water brushed off the bridge,
dowsing those homes below,
while you—
sit at yours on the hill.
“No big deal.”
Another’s reduction making you king.
Till the sky moves in spite of you.
Goosebumps,
wind turned to smog,
like animals bivouacking before disaster.
Yet you stay dormant, standing on your own.
The room, now no longer just a room,
but a cage.
Feet liquefy to concrete—
Captured and stripped of all your illusions that once cushioned.
Humiliation left as your only friend.
Self disdain branded on your face.
A creature convinced it could not be eaten,
now a coiled serpent.
She arrives, vibrating the soil with each step.
Like a dream.
No.
A nightmare.
Her voice is stripping you of possessions,
dispensing you to what is owed.
Eyes forced open to meet hers,
ears bleed to her name—
“Kismet…”
Sinking her teeth into you,
filling the hollow holes with venom,
a serum unfamiliar—
sticky and sweet.
Spells unknown to earth,
decoding what makes you.
Remodeling your insides.
Mutating your nature.
The serpent you once were—
clever, consuming, untouchable—
now,
a mouse froze beneath the shadow of larger teeth.
Dripping what once was.
Drop to your knees—
Seething sounds you thought you would never meet again.
Instead,
The grass is softer than before.
Thicker—
you could lay down from exhaustion.
Wilder—
The sounds of birds playing chase.
Ocean-blue skies, it’s as if you’re upside down.
No—
you’re exactly where you should be.
The air could fill a thousand tanks.
Your lungs have never been more free.
And kismet,
She appears angelic.
Glowing gold layers wave in her hair,
Cuddling the flowers below.
And once again your eyes seem to meet.
This time,
different.
Infectious laughter shaking off what’s left of fear.
And for the first time,
Real.