Catharsis

My fingers get bruised and blistered
As I crawl along the floorboards
Each limb movement
Requires more energy than I have.
I inhale
And gasp for oxygen
In the very next breath.

My vision’s limited
By the gloom;
My sense of smell’s assuaged
By the stench of failure;
The eerie silence
Accentuates every sound
From my raggedy breath
To the scraping evoked
As flesh tracks on wood.


I know I’m fighting
A lost battle.
The exit’s way too far
My reserve’s more or less depleted
The acrid stench of sulphur
Reaches me
And I know
Hell’s hounds have come.

I cast a glance back
And wish I hadn’t
My heart stops
And no amount of willing
Would coax a beat out of her
Dark beasts with huge fangs
Bound toward me
Panic swaps seats with terror
And wakes up the old lady


Causing me to turn once more
Towards the shaft of light
At the other end
Giving voice to my despair
I call out to the light
And get lifted
And cleansed
And strengthened
And relocated
And reimbursed
And reinstated
I’m a king again
Only this time
I can die no more.