Before I learned to think of emotions as transient mental events. |
Back to the swamplands. Back. Back, I say. Back to where you and nature first kissed. Back. Back, I say. Back to where you will not be missed. And you dart past the warning sign, Pretending you saw it not. Lies, lies, lies you’ve been fed. Now you know better than to stop. Yes, you’ve been fed sweet secrets And lard-laden lies, Twisted truths trumpeting inside your twisted head. But enough, enough, enough of that noise Scream your burning thighs. And the river is your only friend, Babbling gossip as she runs by your side. Rushing and gushing and fuming About the verisimilitude you’ve been hoodwinked by. Back to the swamplands. Back. Back, I say. Back to where you started, I insist. Back. Back, I say. Back to where you will not be missed. And the trees gather round As the slithering tendrils close in. Stolid supporters of your resolve While the vines scathe your skin. Yes, a chorus of ethereal whispers Assaults your wind-broken ears As the pad, pad, padding of your feet Sets the cadence of this dryads’ lyric, A beat for the devil’s incorporeal jeers. A chuckle at your jiggling thighs, A chortle at your gut. A snicker, a snigger, a sniggle As you worry, calculate, and plot. Back to the swamplands. Back. Back, I say. Back hidden among fog and mist. Back. Back, I say. Back to where you will never be missed. Abruptly you stop at the edge of a pond Stagnant with reason, reeking of sanity. In your path this murky bed of truth lies, And about-face your heels turn, spurred on by deathly vanity’s sighs. Darkness grows near As the sun begins to set. Fear heightens. Obsession consumes. And you continue running, running, running Until you’re certain all who know will forget. This is the land of madness, But still, you are content Resigning to your fate, your destiny, and your doom Vowing never to return from whence you were sent. Back to the swamplands. Back. Back, I say. Back to the site of your first ugly tryst. Back. Back, I say. Back to where you will not ever be missed. |