604. Empowerment

Evil urgently seeks validation:

“Come hither, join,…agree,”

And grasps to near suffocation,…

Human souls, so desperately.

While Good needs no validation at all,

And ‘lone stands resolute.

For human hearts all know the call,

Of the morally absolute.

So stand alone…proud and strong. Do what’s right!

Strength is not in numbers,

Rather it’s in the Brightest Light,

To which darkness writhes and cowers.

For evil depresses,…

Good empowers.

K. Aldaya, 1/20/23

Picture: By Hofmann Natalia on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/lxrkrBx-c_o

373. Weeping Willow

O’ Weeping Willow, why do you hate the daylight so?

Why do you cry to the sun and hang your head so low?

Do you want us all to feel the same way that you do?

Are you angry with the sun, which dries, then feeds you too?

O’ Weeping Willow, why do you love the darkness so?

Why do you wave and smile at the moon; and let your beauty show?

Do you love the dark because it hides your bitterness?

Does the night conceal your tears within it’s tranquil darkness?

O’ Weeping Willow, why do you exist to feel this way?

Why must you live to suffer so?

Why does it have to be this way?

Do you know where we all go when we turn to dust?

Weeping Willow won’t you cry for me too, when you meet my drifting dust?

K. Aldaya, 10/12/16

Picture: http://indulgy.com/post/cbtCpMSUW1/theclouser; http://indulgy.com/ana–bella/myperfect

302. Gothic

The beauty of the universe,

Is truly a sight to behold.

There is joy to be found in many places,

And if I could be so bold…

I’d say: Beauty has many faces.

Even in the darkest of nights,

When shadows traverse the planet,

The universe is seen more dazzling and pure;

And all the stars which span it,

Only the darkness can confer.

True beauty is not found skin-deep.

Things which on the surface may seem,

Dark and depressing or freakish and bizarre,

May be just the things which beam,

And bare the most enchanting star.

You shouldn’t reject out of hand,

The beauty which lies in the dark.

You may find you’ve missed, what in life, is most grand:

Something which shines in the dark!

You may miss a new stars’ first spark.

K. Aldaya, 4/26/15

Picture: Interpretation of Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night by Alex Ruiz; http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/starry-night-alex-ruiz.jpg

292. The Eternal Staircase

Down the stairs I wander.

In the dark of night I ponder.

What lives within its’ darkness.

My curiosity grows fonder,

Of the blackness which veils,

Revelations and lost tales;

As my legs shake they continue.

Step by step one voice prevails.

The air is cold and wet,

As the darkest black is met,

And the shivers up my spine:

They’re not mine…Oh, they’re not mine!

As the shivers overtake me,

I yell, “What have you done to me?”,

And a breath upon my ear replies,

“You know, but will not see.”

A scream echoes inside,

And I crawl to the rooms’ side,

As the dirt upon the floor,

Invades my every pore.

The dark reaches in me,

As I hide in my body.

Tears stream down an empty face.

Skin is stone, and I am free.

I close my eyes and there…

In the dark a form is there!

I see it. I can see!

Then a sudden light blinds me.

I awaken in my bed,

Still feeling that doom and dread.

I sit up to the side,

And in my hands I rest my head.

I lift my head and sigh,

And it turns into a cry.

Satans’ face breathes on mine,

And growls: “Sing me a lullaby!”,

“As I rape all that is mine”……..

–I walk the house today,

And every door and every way,

Leads down a dark staircase;

So down I step, and step again, as memories replay.

K. Aldaya, 3/26/15

Picture: Photographer Unknown; http://ak.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/4628543/preview/stock-footage-creepy-possessed-man-in-the-basement-attacks-camera.jpg

264. The Most Life-Like Zombie Survival Game Ever

It’s so dark in here;

And cold…yes, it’s so cold.

Won’t someone turn on the light?

I cannot see the zombies,

But I’m ready to fight.

Fight for life and limb,

Or run and run some more.

Can’t stop or I won’t survive.

I have to get out of here…

Get out of here alive.

Shhhh…Quiet! I hear….

Close by they are walking.

I will hold my breath and wait.

I do not hear them now, so…

There’s no more time to wait!

Look there! An exit!

Afraid, but there’s no choice.

I pull myself together,

I’m so close….and I….

Open to the weather.

It’s dark outside too.

Though, no time to ponder.

I keep on running….nowhere;

What is the point of it all?

If I live will someone care?

Will they care that I….

I’m surrounded by death?

Care if I’m eaten alive?

Or will they join the feast too?

Laughing: “She was too weak to survive!”

I have stopped too long.

I race to the forest.

Gasping: run and run….and stop.

At my feet the waters’ edge.

I crouch to sip a drop.

My hands reach….but what?

What is that down in the deep?

There is an eerie figure.

I step back and I weep.

Crack. Crunch. Sounds behind.

The zombies! They’ve returned!

I wipe my eyes; turn and gasp!

You are not a zombie…no…

Reality I grasp.

“Hello”, zombie says.

(the zombie: in disguise)

“Hi”, I reply, and it smiles.

A human smile….deep and warm;

A smile…it’s been awhile.

I can’t believe it!

Do my eyes see the truth?

It moves in close and closer.

Surely, it is just like me?

Nothing bad will occur.

I reach out to touch,

And as my hand rises,

It pushes me with fury.

Backward I fall and I sink;

And kick in a flurry.

I am such a fool!

To believe it wouldn’t hurt me.

I can see it’s hateful grin,

But wait, can’t reach the surface!

I look–it is my twin.

Blacker than the black,

It washes into me.

I drown and when I wake: see,

The being on the surface is…

Human, not a zombie!

There were no zombies.

Ran all my life from them;

Was easier to pretend,

They were monsters than to know,

That sorrow in the end.

Sorrow of dying….

Sorrow from rejection.

Terror of being hunted….

Devoured without reason;

And everyday confronted….

…with just trying to survive.

K. Aldaya, 3/18/14

Picture: Photographer Unknown; http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rOEpjOA3UuM/TSUY3XGnkwI/AAAAAAAAB1Y/ZhI8tTXj7v8/s1600/IMG_4003.jpg