Stricken

-Stricken-
by Keaton Foster



You
A dereliction of duty
Such a tragic beauty
Stricken
Sickened
Thus weakened
By all that I’ve done
Hate
Too subtle of a word
Color me absurd
Call me overplayed
Say that I’m only here
To delay the inevitable
Nature of human existence
Either way
Whatever helps you sleep
However it lends you peace
I care least of all
This is not
Nor has it ever been
About any of you
Those so victimized
Those so stricken
I am a hardened predator
You are meant to be prey
Those of us so weak
Must be feasted upon
By those of us with the stomach
To consume something
Not meant to be digested
I have no regrets
But I am sure that you do
Spill them if you’d like
I always enjoy a good tale
A proper narrative
Leading to the end
Of the fairytale
That you’ve been living
I’ll listen for as long as I can
But be assured my victim
Your words or wisdom
Or lack of both
Will do nothing to alter
The end of this story
That I alone am writing
You came here on your own
You walked through my mind
You stepped further inside
I can’t help it if you
Don’t like what you’ve found
A cannot change the fact
That you are where you are
And are what I need most
A dereliction of duty
Such a tragic beauty
Stricken
Sickened
Thus weakened
There will be no escaping
There will be not abbreviation
There will only be me and you
Then soon
It will be just me
Your demise
Will hold me for a time
At least until the hunger returns
At least until the madness unwinds
By then there will be another
Someone so lovely
Someone so easily fooled
A person made to be a victim
There are of course plenty
While predators are so few
People capable of such darkness
Are not born this way
But rather conditioned
But rather transitioned
Forced to do what it takes
Survival
Such a crucial instinct
One of God’s unintended gifts
This world has always been
Full of those like you
The ones to be consumed
Thus so many must die
So that so few can endure
You are just one of infinitely more
There will never be an end
To the trail of victims left behind
Please speak your words
Pen what you dare wish
Declare as if you have a chance
When of course
You have absolutely none…


Stricken
Written by Keaton Foster Copyright © 2014.