Voices

Do you hear them too?

Blood and tears

spit and bile...

that I should walk this hellish mile.

Demons and angels

known and not

gather here and thicken the plot.

Crowded and noisy

cluttered and dead

these voices gather inside my head.

Screaming, crying, moaning, cursing,

scratching, biting, lying, searching,

laughing, loving, whispering, dying,

killing, retching, crawling, flying,

yelling, mumbling, spitting, fuming,

knowing, guessing, telling, assuming,

commanding, fortelling, swearing, concealing,

touching, numbing, compelling, feeling.

All this they do...

all this and more.

It's why I writhe here on the floor.

No silence here

inside my head,

no rest when it is time for bed.

One screams yes.

One whispers no.

One eats fire

and spits out snow.

One says kill

thru gritted teeth.

One says hush

from far beneath.

One says hate

and one says death

into my nostrils

sour breath.

They talk so loud

and all together,

screaming in pain

moaning with pleasure.

Until it all becomes a roar...

I don't think I can take much more.

So take me away

and drug my brain

and label me indeed insane.

A herd of swine

could not contain

their number swells inside my brain.

Where is my Christ

to ask my name?

Ask me again,

I'll tell you the same...

silver for dime

and copper for penny...

Call me Legion

for we are many.

Author's Note

Tell me about your demons.

Reviews

[Gene Denham]

Wow. Very enjoyable. Dark and twisted, but I like that sort of stuff.

[TL Boehm]

minions. OY. You know, those voices in your head sometimes make for great fiction. Other times they just make you crazy. Found this poem resonant.