Stages

It cowers in the corner, newly born. I turn my spite-soaked back, riddled with resentment and pull the thin veil to sink beneath its cover. I will not watch it crawl, but it breathes, a shadow at the edge of my own threatening to merge. It waits, as I do for nothing while I ignore its cries and mine. And I turn to stone silently refusing the darkness at my feet. ~ It screams a piercing shrill that grips my core. It pokes and presses every bruise, clawing at my skin with high-pitched scratches. Enraged, I seize it. A thunderous wrath echoes within, bubbling from the chambers of my worn-out heart. Relentless waves crash with intent to swallow as a storm unleashes its fury. ~ Fear consumes, as the burning truth nears the brink. Boiling rage simmers to a helpless desperation. I plead for a reprieve, a momentary pause in overwhelming anguish. My offers fly free; promises, compromises… myself. Left waiting, tossing pennies into an overflowing well, only to watch my wishes spill. ~ Rain cascades from hollow black eyes, as its touch pierces my chest. And, the dam breaks… flooding the space with the pent-up poison that's been swelling within. I swap my veil for a heavy blanket of fog as hope is smothered. Color dulls to gray, and I surrender to the haze. ~ It holds me in its growing arms, and strokes my dampened hair, whispering comfort as if to apologize for its very existence. It is mine, born of a final breath to dwell in my shadow, and thrive inside a void. I tend to it as it tends to me, embracing what remains, just a fragment of that final breath to hold inside my lungs. And I succumb to its rise from the isolated corner as it walks beside me, fully grown.