Poems From The Deep

The Boy and The Corner Man

In the dead of night, when silence reigned, 
A young boy lay, thoughts unchained. 
His small chest rising, breaths shallow and slow, 
Yet something stirred in the room below. 

A flicker of movement, a whisper of sound, 
From the darkened corner it seemed to abound. 
At first, just a shadow, a trick of the eye, 
But then a figure formed, lurking nearby. 

He sat there, grinning, legs crossed neat, 
A strange man, a presence too complete. 
His eyes glinted, dark and wide, 
With a smile too sharp, too satisfied. 

The boy stared, frozen in place, 
At the man with the impossible face. 
His features seemed to shift and blend, 
As though his form could never end. 

“Hello, child,” came the man’s sweet tone, 
Soft as velvet, cold as stone. 
“Why do you fear? Come close to me, 
There’s something here I want you to see.” 

The boy, enthralled, could not speak, 
His voice trapped, his knees felt weak. 
Yet something about the man seemed right, 
A warmth amidst the endless night. 

“I don’t bite, I promise you,” 
Said the man, his voice like dew. 
His hands, pale, beckoned near, 
“I’m just a friend, have no fear.” 

The boy rose slowly, eyes wide, confused, 
His body numb, his mind bemused. 
He took one step, then one step more, 
Until his feet met the cold, hard floor. 

The man’s grin grew, his eyes burned bright, 
As the boy approached with hesitant might. 
“Closer now, don’t be shy,” 
The man’s voice sang, a lullaby. 

The boy stood inches from his side, 
And for a moment, the man seemed to glide. 
His fingers danced in the dim-lit space, 
As if tracing shapes of some lost place. 

Then the man’s hand reached out so fast, 
A blur of movement, a vicious blast. 
Before the boy could blink or scream, 
The man grabbed his arm with a force unseen. 

His grip was cold, iron-tight, 
And the boy felt a surge of fright. 
His bones screamed beneath the strain, 
As the man’s fingers dug into his vein. 

With a jerk, the man ripped back his arm, 
And the boy’s shoulder tore with alarming harm. 
Bone snapped clean, flesh gave way, 
As the boy’s blood sprayed in disarray. 

A scream tore loose from the child’s throat, 
But the sound was lost in a choke. 
The man held up the severed limb, 
Grinning wide, his eyes grew dim. 

The boy fell back, his body convulsed, 
Blood gushing from the open pulse. 
Pain unlike any he’d ever known, 
As he stared at his arm, no longer his own. 

“Ah, such sweet agony,” the man purred low, 
As he watched the boy’s life force flow. 
He dangled the arm with sick delight, 
Before tossing it aside, out of sight. 

The boy tried to crawl, weak and slow, 
But the man wouldn’t let him go. 
He reached again, with fingers long, 
Dragging the boy where he didn’t belong. 

With another pull, the boy’s legs went limp, 
As the man began his twisted imp. 
The room around them seemed to tear, 
Reality itself fractured in the air. 

The walls split wide like peeling skin, 
And the boy felt the cold seep in. 
Not the cold of winter, sharp and clear, 
But something deeper, ancient, severe. 

The man’s grip tightened, his nails like knives, 
Carving into the boy’s fragile life. 
He yanked again, harder now, 
And the boy’s flesh began to bow. 

The man’s mouth stretched, unnaturally wide, 
A gaping maw, swallowing pride. 
His teeth sharp as glass, too many to count, 
And his tongue slithered, eager to mount. 

With a sickening snap, the boy’s spine cracked, 
And his body sagged, broken, sacked. 
The man’s laughter filled the air, 
A grotesque sound, beyond compare. 

He dragged the boy into the void, 
A place where reality was destroyed. 
The floor dissolved, the ceiling split, 
And all around them, darkness lit. 

The boy’s vision blurred, pain too much, 
His limbs useless beneath the man’s touch. 
Yet he could still feel that relentless pull, 
As the man dragged him to the null. 

The world around them twisted, bent, 
As if the universe itself was spent. 
The stars flickered, the skies turned black, 
And the boy felt himself slipping back. 

Back into a place with no light, no time, 
Where every breath was a crime. 
The man grinned wider, impossibly so, 
As he dragged the boy where no one could go. 

Through the veil, past life and death, 
Into the void, the boy’s last breath. 
The strange man hummed a sickly song, 
As the boy was pulled where he didn’t belong. 

Into the dark, beyond the known, 
The boy was left, utterly alone. 
His arm was gone, his soul was ripped, 
And the man’s smile never slipped. 

He vanished there, in that broken place, 
Leaving no trace, no final grace. 
The boy was lost, his life undone, 
Dragged into a world where there was none. 

And in the corner, shadows creep, 
Where strange men wait, and secrets sleep.