Experiment #36

An experiment gone terribly wrong...

Just another day in the lab

I’d gotten used to the stench of blood and urine

But the experiments were horrific

I tried to tell myself they were just data

I tried to drown out the screams

Sometimes with whiskey

Other times they echoed at night

In my dreams

Experiment 36 didn't go right

Tintinnabulation of alarms going off 

Is what hit me first

I tried to grab my data

before the explosion could reach me

The amber blast hit me second

It was preceded by a linebacker covered in pillows

I didn't even feel the burns

Not then anyway

I woke up 60 ft away

From where I had been standing

Dazed and confused

I couldn’t move

Didn't even know I was burnt

Or that my leg was broken

Responders were there

Morphine, God bless morphine

Wasn't for 2 weeks until I really got to suffer

I almost thought I wouldn't suffer much

Third-degree burns throughout my body

Had me in agonizing pain

The doctor said 85%

Including my face

"Debriding" is the word they use

But what they mean is:

"We are going to take a scouring pad to every bit of your burnt flesh"

Sure they tried to numb me

they “tried”

But I still felt every single stroke

Tears spilled out of my eyes

Which only irritated my face more

Damn salty tears running across my raw flesh 

I laid there, wishing, begging, praying for it to be over soon

But it felt like hours

It felt like goddamn days

that I laid on that cold hospital table

Being tortured 

This process was repeated

More times than I can say

Until eventually one day

They let me go home

Cured

Except for the fact

That I was a hideously deformed monster

In constant pain

I didn't want to kiss my wife

Though she said she still loved me

I just wanted to give her an excuse

To leave

The doctors gave me any drug I wanted

That good lab-grade s**t

Washed it down with a few beers

And soon enough

This twisted monster was throwing bottles at the woman he loved the most

I couldn’t stop, it was like I was watching from the outside

It was like something else was controlling my body

Was it the alcohol mixed with the Indomethacin?        

The horrible visage in the mirror

Made me imbibe these poisons

At least the tears don't hurt anymore

Rolling across my gnarled cheeks

As I sit alone in my empty living room

Lost my wife, lost my kids

Beer after beer after beer

I know I can't do it year after year

People look away

They try to hide their disgust

Just to later discuss

The hideous freak that they saw

Lost my case against the lab in court

Gonna lose my house soon if I don’t get some support

That damn lab explosion ruined my life

I’ve lost everything…

Now to just lose my life...

Author's Note

Can y'all guess who I did this collab with?

If y'all haven't put it together yet, it was "T.S. Ulmus" !!!
Our...seventh poem? I wanna say?
I enjoyed working with you on this one, had no idea it was gonna turn out like this... but I think that our story/poem is pretty good!!

Tell us what you think of our story/poem!!

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

sometimes it does not have to be physical damage .....it can be emotional and mental that makes us not want that significant other to kiss us...
we suffer from that pain just as much....and it makes us feel ugly and unwanted on the inside...
j.

[Nix is typing...]

Thank you for your insights, Jacob :)
I appreciate the read and review. :)

[The Unknown Sith]

I like this! It goes down a dark hole of tragedy to the depth of utter despair.It brought a smile to my face! Good read.

[Nix is typing...]

LMAO, I LOVE THIS REVIEW SO MUCH!!!!
Thank you so much for reading and reviewing and leaving a smile on my face.

Nix ❤️

[T.S. Ulmus]

T.S. also loved this comment.