Dying Inside By: J.L. Jacobs © 2015

This poem was written from the point of view of "The Cleveland Abduction" victims Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina DeJesus who were kidnapped, raped, abused, and held captive for over a decade.

One by one he hunted us down,

and lured us to his home.

We were so darn naive and young,

believing in his niceness shown.

He forced us to his basement,

our appendages were bound.

Gagged and naked with a helmet,

on the cold and wet cement ground.

Ariel Castro was so insane,

he'd rape us all each day.

We begged and pleaded for him to stop-

wishing these horrors would go away.

He'd sometimes let us watch the news,

our families were so scared and sad.

Searching for us day and night,

in every moment that they had.

As time went on and years flew by,

his tortures only grew worse.

It was our daily struggle to stay alive-

why were our lives so cruelly cursed?

Causing us pain was his sick obsession,

of that he made sure we knew.

We were his most-prized possessions,

that he would beat black and blue.

The pain was so much to bear,

especially if we disobeyed.

Through silent screams of our despair-

he was our captor, and we his prey.

In the ten years that we were kept,

so often have we prayed.

Ten years-worth of tears we've wept,

wishing we'd soon be saved.

We are three tortured souls,

how long would we last?

Under his abusive control,

through all of his vicious attacks?

Our bodies and spirits he'd broken,

after years of carnal abuse.

Some of us miscarried babies,

with bleeding that was so profuse.

Only one baby had actually been born,

inside of a kiddie pool.

To protect her- we'd all fiercely sworn,

as she was our tiny little jewel.

The years passed by so slowly,

and nothing had ever changed.

Ariel was such a monster,

who deserved to die and hang!

Forgetting to lock Amanda's door,

Ariel left in a hurry one day.

Amanda grabbed her daughter,

and that's how they escaped.

She got some help for us all,

a new path she did pave.

Our prayers were finally answered,

oh my God... we were saved!

Arial Castro was caught,

then arrested and arraigned.

Sentenced to life in prison,

where he finally did hang!

Karma got that monster,

he's dead as he should be.

The three of us are thankful...

because we all are free!

Author's Note

Keep in mind that when I wrote this poem, I tried to do so with the mindset of how those kidnapping victims must have felt while being imprisoned, raped, beaten, emotionally abused, and tortured for well over a decade until they were finally rescued.