The Darkness Within

This is a poem about a girl. She is depressed, forgotten, alone. But no one seems to care or understand. The darkness inside eats at her soul, yet she forces herself to go on.

 

 

THE DARKNESS WITHIN

 

She walks alone, a somber expression on

her partially-hidden face, shielded by the

hood of her cape. She pulls her hood

down low, as if to hide herself from

the world. Or, perhaps, to hide the world

from herself. From the darkness inside her.

 

The darkness tearing at the very depths

of her soul. Where it comes from, she

does not know. But her biggest worry

is how to make it go away. Or will she

be a prisoner of it forever? A prisoner

of herself, of the darkness inside.

 

She carries on, and carries the burden

within her as if it were a weight upon

her shoulders, crushing down on her.

How she longs to be free of it! But

she knows not how. No one can help,

can rid her of this darkness, this pain.

 

She stops at a fountain and sits on

the edge. She reaches her hand into

the cool water, all the while watching

the spray of the fountain upon itself.

She looks at her reflection in the water,

and the face she sees frightens her.

 

It is as if it is not hers at all, but

someone else’s pain-stricken face.

Suddenly she feels something hot

run down her cheek. Something wet.

She holds out her hand and a tear falls

into her palm. Then another.

 

She sobs, the darkness overwhelming

her, engulfing her. It is so dark, so

threatening. Then it is gone. The

darkness, the emptiness, the loneliness.

She washes her tears in the coolness

of the fountain, bewildered of what occurred.

 

She is free. But how? She looks around,

and something catches her eye. The

fountain, the statue. It is of an angel with

wings outspread, guarding over a

little girl. Suddenly, the angel begins

to glow, bright as lightning.

 

She covers her face, unable to look.

But the light is inviting, warm,

comforting. She looks again, and

as she looks, her cape is released

and flies away in the wind. Her wings

beneath reveal what she really is:

 

A fallen angel, once bound

by an overwhelming darkness

inside her. Now she is free,

and she spreads her wings as the

darkness is washed from her. The fearful

reflection in the water once before is no more.

Author's Note

I like this poem because it gives a twist in the end.