Serpentine Abyss Poem by Nika McGuin

Black is a word,
If you were in a car
it would make you swerve
Thoughts going through your head
the only thing you can see, is the color red
Demons floating in nearby skies
Mama never did sing lullabies
The darkness overflows your vision
you can't remember why you're here
what is your mission?
scanning for memories
but you have none
the only thing you can hear,
is something loud, like the sound of a gun
your shadow follows me
I tried to run away
the only thing I can hear
is the stepping of feet

From the age of five
I'd been taught to submit to the beast,
that I must quell my anger and resentment
and I'd lived with it, suffered its taunts daily
until at last, hope surfaced - a lucid phantasm
with its serpentine tongue an oath was sworn,
that the creature could be vanquished
soon, I'd be free of the cell I'd grown accustomed to
like a fool fully garnished in naivete,
I began to reminisce about the way my life was
before the monster's abhorred presence made itself known
but hope too is an intruder
and like all serpents, it slithers and lies
the beast's dark shadow hunts me still