Purge

A tale of internal drowning

Steam baths, waves of summer scent washing away a lifetime of hidden lies.

 

Rough cloth sweeping my demons away like a mother cat's tongue.

 

Spiced soap seeps into the pores once flooded with justifiable fear - now no longer thought of but still felt.

 

They've cut a hole in the stone that's exactly my size.

 

The final slab locks into place, the alcohol burns as it fills in the gaps.

 

80 proof gasps are painful and wrong, but the eternal voice tells me to keep breathing, that the eternity is only a moment, that my gravest sins are forgiven with each diaphram contraction.

 

Blood-yellowed eyes stare at me and blink in unison, the apart.

 

That's me.

 

The polished stone sends an altered ego to me through the dirty-water alcohol, still burning my nose.

 

The eternity is only a moment, the second is only as long as the rest of your life.

 

Stone moves closer, squeezing the liquid from my lungs.

 

It's over now, darling.  It's just beginning.

 

Unaccustomed lungs reject suffocating air, but it still makes it into me.

 

Please, put me back in my coffin to purge this life again.

 

Fill it up.

 

copywrite Lyndsay Castro 2008

Author's Note

Any thoughts?

Reviews

[bailish]

"80 proof gasps are painful and wrong, but the eternal voice tells me to keep breathing, that the eternity is only a moment, that my gravest sins are forgiven with each diaphram contraction."
I love the 80 proof gasps. This sounds like yoga exercises of breathing control. Other points also have Hindu qualities to it, the beginning and the ending coinciding.
I like your references. Gives your writing a spiritual quality to it.

[alyssa]

LOVE IT!!! very powerful words!!! good imagry!!

[Deborah Leah Krempa]

This poem sounds like someone screaming out for help, sadly well written. Thank you for sharing. Debileah

[iNSIDEmYsNAILsHELL]

I.......love this. I'm not entirely sure what it's about but it made me feel something and that's what matters.

[LSS]

Too dark for me. I like the light!
Lar

[Pink Poison]

I love it, but I'm not sure I grasp the entire meaning. I like the first half best, probably because it's the easiest to relate to, for me. 80 proof me, that is. I really love your imagery throughout the whole poem though. It's so real. I do think it might be stronger without the last line; just ending with "Please, put me back in my coffin to purge this life again." but, of course, that's only my opinion. Excellent poem.

[SJ Roebling]

You are truly a talented writer. I love your use of metaphors. Complete pro!
Keep writing.
My best,
SJ