Enclosed

By Shelley M. Latreille

Hollow bodies that radiate disaster tried to keep me catatonic.
Burn their images from my memory banks.
Use their fear to imprison me while their ignorance caused
my skin to blister and my ears to bleed.
Walking through life a member of the zombified undead,
trying to tune out their lies and ignorance.
Wringing the water from my brain after their wash,
believing I was the problem.
Locking myself inside my mind and
not coming out to avoid their imprisonment.
Lashing out, breaking free, as they pretend to die,
calling me murderer, even though they were perfectly pristine.
What they unleashed shall never be.
Contained, it sits in silence, existing inside the mirror,
waiting for the perfect moment to spring into action.
The dark and decay keep me lucid.
The only tune I hear is the hollow and
deafening ringing contained within my ears.
My veins twist and turn and weave my journey into reality.
My veins remain an aqua color and burst with fiery redness
when they detect you are near.
You pretend to die to lure me back into your lair, but now I know better.
I am immune to your hypnotic trance.
I use my eyes and avoid your propaganda.
I am no longer the fish contained inside your aquarium walls
that you can bend, break, and stalk at your will.
I have left your crude enclosure,
never to return, no matter how much you beg, plead, and threaten.