Tatem Herdina
Poetry Editor
If I thought the world had ended, I was wrong…
A thought begins a spiral
Downwards into that dark, dark hole where I can’t get out.
Spinning and growing and taking shape into a person with a
weapon,
That one weapon that when fired can destroy the ground
beneath my feet.
But it is never the end…
That villain in my head loves to taunt me with that weapon.
Flexing their finger over the trigger, or the arrow;
or a step away from swinging a sword down over my head.
But it never gets pulled; never let go; never swung.
And it is never the end…
I’ve found a home here, when I fall in that hole.
It’s small and swaying, waiting to be blown down by the bad
wolf waiting outside its walls;
But it contains the thoughts and keeps them from attacking
those I love;
Those who only want to help.
If I keep them to myself will they stay safe from that villain?
Will their end be spared a second longer?
That villain… a faceless bully in my head that loves to
appear in my good moments.
Taking the best highs of my life and needling its way to find
that weakness;
to show me the one result that will send my tower to the
sun crumbling to their feet.
They have finally brought the end…
But through my too fast heartbeat;
the tears streaming from my eyes, blurring my vision;
and the guns, the shouts, the flames crackling in my ear,
a savior comes to pull me from my dark, dark hole.
They shield me from the gunshot, the flying arrow, the
falling sword over my head
and even if they don’t see it
their little light in my house of fear has driven away that
villain;
If only for one more night.
And if I thought the world had ended, I was wrong…