Beast

A portrait of self-serving natures.

What you see before you is not a man
There is no righteousness encased inside this shell
Self-serving, amoral, and ambiguous
I am not a man

What you see before you is a beast
The greatest seductive lies ever muttered in your ear
A product of consumption and sin with only cold callousness
The past has scarred this beast
The wounds of the present are visible on arms,
on legs,
on body,
on soul

Silent footsteps take him through the black to fulfill another desire for inebriation
Silent words are whispered in the darkest corners to deaf ears so everyone hopefully follows
Silent screams from the human spirit locked in a rusty cage lost inside, lost to self
Silent prayers spoken in low undertones to tissue-thin beliefs forgotten long ago

A beast on the prowl
A lonesome beast who fears everything
and sees everything
will promise everything
and deliver nothing

This beast speaks only the truth
But every truth is a lie
Carefully crafted self-delusion and omitted details
Webs tangling and choking off the breath of everyone around him
For isolation is the only thing that satiates him

What you see before you is not a man
There is no conscience encased inside this shell
Enigmatic, torrid, and contradictory
I am not a man

What you see before you is a beast
Many have attempted to reclaim the humanity hidden within
To pull the child away from the fire and cradle him in their arms
But always they have met with failure
For you cannot save that which has no desire to change,
to grow,
to heal,
to become

Echoing voices from ghosts long fled and escaped rattle the fragile panes restlessly
Echoing wrongs reverberate and magnify each other in the eternal void left gaping
Echoing failures batter the sides of the ship lost on the frothing seas inside
Echoing memories will never be forgotten but always ignored, and history repeats

A beast on the hunt
A fearsome beast who desires nothing
And embraces nothing
Will achieve nothing
And yet becomes everything

This beast walks in his own shadow
But the shadow is a fallacy
For all it takes is the will to step into the light
To escape is an act of self, an act of seizing the opportunities
For everyone is responsible for themselves alone

What you see before you is not a man
There is no understanding encased inside this shell
Solitary, undefined, and forgotten
I am not a man
I am a monster

Author's Note

I actually detest this piece in its entirety, but it has redeeming moments.