A Temporary Madness
by neal gartland
Once the glass is shattered all is lost.
The patient, broken, nature has escaped.
Without a sound a door closes inside.
Shards and footsteps fashioning a frenzy.
How suddenly all comfort is erased.
The end. The arrival of the villain.
Do you know the villain?
Do you know the way, or are you lost?
What are you erasing
As you race along your futile escape?
How long has the frenzy
Called to you from somewhere deep inside?
So much colder than it was inside.
Down the stairs of the porch descends the villain.
Night. Into the woods. In a frenzy
The dry leaves the trees so recently lost
Swirl like the sound of the scream escaping
Your mouth. Your eyes. Your mind. It must erase.
To become you. To claim. It must erase.
From here you still can see the light inside
That house and from the chimney smoke escaping
Still. It pursues you down the hill, the villain
At your back now reaching. In a rage lost.
Beating wings. You fall again. Frenzy.
Thrilled to be free blood, in spurts and frenzies
Leaps into your eyes. Vision erased,
You claw the earth. An earthworm, lost,
Evades your grip. Gripping fingers inside
You. Become one with the hand of the villain.
It smiles at the sound of your last breath escaping.
The smell of the baking pie doesn’t escape
Your notice. You notice the rain, frenzied,
Tapping against the door. Or is that villain
Squirrel again, scratching? The last line you erased
Echos again and again, throbbing inside
Your mind. Searching for a glass you’ve lost.
Or has it escaped? No, you’ve lost it.
Frenzied fireplace feels as if it’s inside you.
Who is the villain again? It doesn’t matter, you’ll erase it all.