Notes About The Poem
Written on September 20th, 2025 for Edward Ibeh's This or That, Vol 36 Poetry Contest, "Through Life's Clenched Jaw"
Through Life's Clenched Jaw
Slip into hypnotic slumber.
Peel back countless layers.
As the night sweeps in with merciless vengeance,
blackening out even the tiniest glimmer of light.
Sink deeper into shadowless despair.
Taste the copper of your bitten tongue,
slowly slipping down a heaving throat.
Eyelids flutter more rapidly as the heaviness encompasses;
silent screams fill the void in deprived lungs.
Awaken — soaking rain pounding down.
Alone, surrealist landscapes merge and melt into intangible realities.
A cocooned dirt road lies before you,
hidden by wailing trees swaying to a distant breeze,
while a murder of crows gathers.
Fear, amplified, surges like electricity through a resuscitated body.
One step at a time, the ashen sky turns to bloodlust.
Tears gingerly pool in the bags under your eyes.
Shoulders slump down as all the invisible weight you've been carrying increases.
Spine splintering; walking becomes monumentally more painful.
Once the path is crossed, there will be no turning back.
Body twisted and contorting, writhing.
Dig down deeper; rip at the last morsels of strength.
A white door stares at you from across the way.
Keep pushing further; it's your last chance at hope.
All the demons of your past try everything to break you,
but remember: pain is only skin deep, and the soul will be free.
Just fifteen more feet now as the wind whips around you,
slicing into your flesh; crimson flows like a rushing river.
Sight's stolen, and all that remains are your instincts.
Two more steps, “Through life's clenched jaw” — feel for the smooth, stainless handle against all odds.
Buckling knees give way under the pressure.
Crawl; dig into the burning petrichor; feel the shift.
As, one by one, your broken body makes it through the door,
where serenity awaits.
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