From deep within a dusty hovel,
My mind encaged,
I peer through the wooden slats of my skull,
At the horrific radiance of eternity,
Lying before my rotting eyes,
It’s evil splendour and cursed grace screaming,
Of the endless cycle of life,
Soul gorging on soul,
And fading heart beats,
That ripple through time,
Going nowhere,
Dreams of martyrdom and utopia straining,
Stolen breaths wasted on life,
Despondent victims of time,
It’s cruelty unceasing,
Wailing in silence,
Trembling lips sewn shut with fear,
Sparkling hearts dulled,
Their bright hues drained out,
The barren wilderness remaining,
The carcass of life hollow,
It’s invasive stench enveloping mourners in plumes of weary acceptance,
The haggard toothless memories,
The neon blue flicker of hope,
Abandoned to whither and decay,
Our cries all transformed and unified,
The hum of raging car horns and factory machinery churning out our disgrace,
Two by two by infinity,
Too late to start keeping score,
The mystic elders of fate forlorn,
Their royal garments torn and ragged,
Horror of faceless reflections in pools of oil,
Gasoline bubbles and plastic limbs curdling,
The invisible cosmic soup,
It’s burning rays,
Full of scorn and self-loathing,
Abhorrent nightmares of immortality,
Waking pills and sleeping minds,
Broken shards of bones,
Encased in the damp smog of dystopian cities,
Cluttered beyond my cell,
Spirits and lost images congealing above,
Wading across rivers of sacred blood and holy tears,
The glowing embers of angelic light,
Gleaming and suffering to remain ablaze,
Cold winds battering mournful cathedral towers,
Where lonesome ghosts huddle,
Whispering fairy tales,
And inhaling the sodden gloom,
Decaying floorboards creaking with despair,
Innocence and purity in their eyes,
Ecstasy in their souls,
Love and joy in their hearts,
Storms of shadow and grey anguish elapsing through the cosmos,
The lonely gruesome streets,
Full of evil stares and whispers of fear,
Futile prayers and hopeless dreams,
Wrinkled skin oozing regret,
Pale sallow face gaunt in the morning light,
Ferocious roars castrated and turned to feeble whimpers,
Unfulfilled and hollow,
Shrouded in grey misery and flaking contempt,
Better to remain within,
To yearn for eternity,
And bask in solitude,
To brood and sway with pulsating cosmic forces,
And assemble the iron cage,
Locked from within –
Poem by Stamos Mardou