Deep within the cobbled alleyways of my mind,
Past memories lurk and pulsate in ways unkind,
Layer by layer accumulating dust,
They crumble and gnaw causing my mind to rust,
Those vehement thoughts play frame by frame,
Ominous seems its vicious game,
Unabated, it torments my passing days,
Sweeping shadows loom in caliginous ways,
My unvoiced fears augment and press against my tender chest,
Causing my enervated eyes to seldom rest,
As I tumble and teeter with the relentless taunts,
The whirlwind grows stronger and continues to haunt,
Like a lifeless soul my existence diminishes in a world that’s monochrome,
With the ticking clock my strained soul, in silence does roam,
Seasons several come and go one after the other,
But my bubbled life is veiled by an eternal winter,
The warblers have transformed into mourning doves,
Their dirges resound across skeletal groves,
I have no place to call home, no shoulder to rest,
Creatures of the dark have invaded my haven in ways unjust,
Love and light have migrated to a land unknown,
Oblivious to the echoes of my heart which now seems to mourn,
I forage for remnants from the days bright,
But they have sunk into an abyss, far from sight,
It’s been long since I’ve swallowed my ego and all my pride,
But my wish for hope seems to have died,
Grief feeds fuel to my mind that’s caged within doors invisible,
Happiness has diminished and lost its battle,
Though enslaved by the emotional chants that refuses to be forgotten,
I wear a flawless mask to hide my fractured soul and a heart that’s broken,
Every night tears of melancholy flow into endless rivers,
Mounting into a cataclysmic deluge of poetry with endless meters,
A prisoner I am in the confines of my mind with memories monstrous,
With muted lips I plead for the key to break me free from the pain that’s ruthless.

***

The above poem secured second place in the poetry contest held by Chrysanthemum Chronicles.