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Cryptic Cipher in the Crypt

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Cryptic Cipher in the Crypt

Daniel Henry Rodgers

The scariest thing isn’t what’s hidden behind the words it’s that maybe nothing is and the more you search for the code the more it and I kept trying to find myself in the story until I realized the story was trying to find me and a poem is just a cipher that pretends it can be cracked and words are the only place we can get lost on purpose and the it keeps slipping but no it tightens no it was never there you never knew it and you will write it again and you will read it again and you will forget it again and the code keeps shifting but you have already begun but there is no beginning there is no beginning there is no beginning…..

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Listen to poem:

(Begin: There is no beginning.) (O' my--not again--you should not have started.) The quill burrows. No--splinters. No--fractures. No--was never here. Ink spills--no--veins spill--no--veins collapse--no--veins rewrite. The vowels--black-lipped--no--the ink coagulates--the ink tightens--the ink breathes- acrid, metallic, it stings the tongue. Teeth in the--grain. Teeth in the letters. Teeth in me--no--teeth in you--no--teeth in the mirror- splinters in the gum's raw edge. (First Code Fragment: 8F-2R-7L) Look closer. Did you find it? Did you feel it? Did you erase it? Did you write it? Did you write it? Did you--did you--did you- (Wait--did something change? Did you taste it? Did you see it?) Walls tremble--no--the air trembles--the bone trembles--the breath fractures- walls crack--walls contract--walls... what walls? (Second Code Fra-gment: 6X-3T-1D) Words gnaw--no--you are cracked--no--you are reading--no--you are inside it--no--you are it- Reverse it. Reverse it. Reverse it. Reverse it. Reverse it. Ti Esrever. (Third3 Code Fragment: 4M-9Y-5Q) It festers. It bleeds. It rots. It wails--like iron scraping stone--like teeth on glass. No--it does not end. It never ended. It was never written. (Wait. Did it always say that? Was something different before?) They find me--folded, drained, chanting riddles--you missed it. His counselor reads--her pulse dissolves--her lips de-part--the verse evolves. (Fourth Code Fragment: 2N-8P-0W)M Who wrote this? Who's reading? Who's listening? No--who's speaking peeking? No--who's thinking sinking? No--who's remembering dismembering? No--who's forgetting letting? Your breath is shallow. Your fingers twitch. The ink knows you--its scent of rust and salt- Did you see it? Look again. Did you miss something? Did you write it? Did you erase it? The letters shift. The text moves. The meaning is gone. No--the meaning is waiting- No--there is no meaning. No--there is only ink. No--there is only you- a taste of copper on your teeth. You have written this before. You will write it again. It will be written again. It will be read again. It has always existed. (Final Code Fragment: 6R-3V-7K :( Ahhhhhh- Do not--write. Do not--erase. Do not--read. Do not--think. My God. Do not--breathe

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Frank Sheehan

Date: 6/17/2025 1:47:00 PM

Hi Daniel! Wonderful fantastic piece. Enjoying your work. It has an element of the surreal. Very creative. Powerful pen. Have a great day.

Mickey Grubb

Date: 6/17/2025 12:12:00 PM

General Patton once said, “If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking.” Daniel, that ain’t you. Your wheels are always spinning, my friend. I think what you have written might well be a branch of “OCD”…lol. Clever! Have fun on vacation.

Paige Hind

Date: 6/16/2025 8:22:00 PM

Wow, this looks almost like automatic writing. Brilliantly done, Daniel! Your words are often raw and by themselves they make us raw....even if we're getting different things!!!

Paula Goldsmith

Date: 6/16/2025 1:46:00 PM

WOW!!! What a creative write you have here. Love It... Great Line, "Who wrote this? Who's reading? Who's listening?" You Wrote...I am reading...Everyone is listening... Have a fun day writing away..........

Tom Woody

Date: 6/16/2025 8:09:00 AM

Haha! Well that was an interesting ride. I've said it before but you certainly have a unique way of expressing yourself. I think it's fair to say no one writes like DHR. My fave line that stood out is the rhyming one just above fourth code fragment. Footnote: I never allow myself to fall under the compulsive need to write, so I don't really experience the frustrations so many writers experience. When something strikes my fancy I'll write and it tends to come fairly easily. When I hit a

Tom Woody
Date: 6/16/2025 9:21:00 AM

Have fun!

Daniel Henry Rodgers
Date: 6/16/2025 8:54:00 AM

Hello Tom, Thanks and I am glad you enjoyed. My issue isn’t as much a fear of creativity and perhaps just the opposite that I have so many poetic ideas rattling around in my head that I believe are good will be forgotten before they are written down. By the way I just put the recorded version up if you want to listen. I do try to be a boundary pusher at times to create something different in poetry. :) Note,My wife and I are going on a two week vacation and won’t be posting as much. Blessings, My Friend, Daniel

Tom Woody
Date: 6/16/2025 8:10:00 AM

roadblock it's a sign to me that I just need to drop the pen and let it go. I refuse to force a poem out of myself, but that's just me

Anne Winter

Date: 6/16/2025 7:25:00 AM

Dearest Daniel, this poem reminded me of the book The Bell Jar, where Esther cannot read or write. Sometimes, it feels like there's something indescribable I want to write but I cannot write it articulately, we all have doubts. This poem is describing the chaos very well and this line is very calming “You have written this before. You will write it again. It will be written again. It will be read again”. I really enjoyed reading this poem, my dearest friend. With love and respect always, Anne

Daniel Henry Rodgers
Date: 6/16/2025 8:47:00 AM

Dearest Anne, to be compared to one of yours and my favorites, Sylvia and what an honor. I wanted to create a poem that some face and fear but others may worry about. What happens when our world shuts down its creative spark? For us poets there is some underlying fear and speaking of Sylvia she definitely feared the death of creativity. I just put up the recorded version if you are interested.Thanks for being a great friend and poet. Blessings, Light and Hugs, My Dear Anne, Daniel