The dark is crowded with attention,
Every shadow seems to hear,
And the silence bends around me
Like a mouth pressed to my ear.
There’s a rumble in my rafters,
Bones vibrating in the beams -
Not a storm, but something waking
In the basement of my dreams.
Every shadow seeps like poison,
Every corner births a stare,
And the air turns thick and sulfurous
With a pulse that isn’t there.
I can feel it in my marrow,
In the oil beneath my skin -
A dragging chill, a creeping hand
That curls its fingers in.
There’s a hush beyond the thunder,
Where the world forgets its name,
Where the darkness isn’t nothing -
But a mouth without a shame.
Someone watches in the blackness,
Claiming debts I never owe,
Yet it crawls with patient purpose
From the soil far below.
I can hide beneath my blankets,
I can beg the night to spare -
But I woke the ancient hunger
When I let it taste my air.
Now the floorboards swell and blister,
Now the house begins to groan -
For the one that stalks the sinners
Only ever comes alone.
And there’s nothing left to barter,
No last prayer, no safe retreat -
For the dark has marked my footsteps…
And I'm - the last one here to eat.
GBS jr
2023
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