Insanity's Pleasure Poem by Beatrice Preti

The metal glistens on my neck
As it falls onto my chest
It cuts my skin, causing me pain
Is it a necklace, or is it a chain?
I can’t speak, so you won’t know
The trials I’ve had to undergo
I’ve been tortured to the edge
Of insanity’s pleasure, for a crime alleged
The metal links grow and grow
Leaching the truths I used to know
They clamp on my wrists, holding me tight
Keeping me bound to this darkness, this night
My sins number few, but they run deep
Haunting my mind like a song on repeat
Here, in the darkness, the shadows moan
My body shivers, and shakes my bones
My crimes are unspoken, yet darkness descends
Upon this maddening silence to which I am condemned
There is no light, yet the heavy chains glow
Wet like a sunbeam melting the snow
Oh! Those are tears! I think I am crying
No, you can’t help me. Leave me — I’m dying
I’m a criminal, a convict, my life is forfeit
I’ve been sentenced to madness, eternal torment
I am a monster — see? My life is done.
No breaths left to hold, they’ve already won
You might pity me; you don’t know how I’ve lived
The sickening sins no one ever forgives
But now that that’s over, and now that I’m dying
My walls have been broken, and, now, I am crying
And maybe, one day, you’ll learn to forgive
A monster forgotten, who no longer lives
Until then, I’ll stand under my sins and my chains
Forever in darkness, now that I’ve gone insane