In softly lit candle flame
surrounding Us like a Thousand Angels’ Eyes in the
Caverns of Saint Veronica’s,
She took my hand and led me down
Jacob’s Ladder
into a Dungeon of Hellish Delights.
And swinging hooks with meaty chunks of
human flesh hung glistening, wet
all around Us
as We made Our way through the musical forest
of dark iron chains.
And Screams
rent the air as the
tears of tortured children twisted closed my eyes
where Sorrow burned down my cheeks.
And in the Center of the Dungeon
where a Thousand Monsters danced in Darkness
writhing in bloodied barbed-wire
I saw my Child-Self
being Torn limb from limb.
And She looked at me and asked
why I wasn’t frightened;
and I smiled….sadly,
and told Her I didn’t take it personally.
And then the Demon-Inccubus of my dead father
awoke and Rose behind Her
and He crawled
coated in thick muculent slime
to reach out
to touch my mother.
And She was screaming when He grabbed Her
and She was pleading when He dragged Her Down
with Him.
And as I backed away into the Light of a Thousand Singing Angels
She begged that I assist; asked why I didn’t.
and as I ascended Jacob’s Ladder
I smiled… sadly,
and said I didn’t take it personally.
18, September 1990
I’M NOT AFRAID OF THE DARK #3
Finnegan