Shadow Heart

A torn up,
Bloody
Heart
Tries to mend its way;
But Blackness
Filters foreword
Threading its silky beads
Shyly,
Sickeningly.
Slowly pretending
To be
A Pure,
Red
Beating Heart.
Soon,
Everywhere else is
Racing.
And now… the eyes see itself.
They see where they used to be,
All they are now is,
The Shadow;
Silently losing their place in line,
Pounding and
Pounding,
Shouting for help.
Shouting that plea of sadness,
Of helplessness,
Of being trapped in an hour glass
And pounding for the energy to break free.
Tears spill and land on the rough skin.
But only in the brain.
Only the thought of crying,
But the tears don’t truly shed.
They stare blankly,
And the body stands like a
Manikin,
Only half itself.
So disconnected,
So confused
And distraught.
Lifeless
Trapped inside that shadow,
Suddenly the sound of growing weak,
Of giving up,
Seems comforting,
Until a light shines through
Into the vast darkness.
Shedding a glimmer
Of something vague.
A blur.
So small that
The eyes squint.
No smile cracking,
Not even an inch.
But the lids upon the eye grow wide
And the color sharpens.
Soon to discover a hand, climbing down,
Clean palm open,
But becoming dirty
As it comes further.
Embarrassment creeps up the cheeks,
And the Manikin shrinks away
Ashamed at the dirt and grime
Piling upon the walls,
And watches the hand reach down further.
But still,
Despair stands still,
Daring to be moved from its spot.
The manikin serenely closes its eyes,
Wishing for something better,
Wishing to be better,
And not in a dirty pit.
But it sees a light,
A light from the hand
Which soon again becomes pure,
And the realization of what that means
Is such a deep depth of meaning.
The manikin gains color
From the sheik gray it used to be,
And begins thinking;
Knowing it will take eternity,
But to believe in just that small hand
Is the strength it needed;
The strength it wanted all along.
Now a clear tear falls down
The blush
Cheek.
And the shame washes away.
A smile returns.
A pure, truthful smile.
Not one of deceit
And lies.
But of pure heart.
That’s what’s truly lying beneath the
Blackened heart.
What truly wants to break free
Of being trapped
From the silky grasp.
It knows that’s what it truly is,
But only because of that
Love,
And the shining hand
That is willing to reach out.
Which has the love to reach out;
Doesn’t deceive or give up.
But keeps on believing.
Never losing its own heart.