Tacenda

Survivor's Guilt

Eerie silence swallowing the land
Corpses cover the ground like sand
No screams of desperation
Nor desolation, destruction, devastation

I wait for at least one other man to make a call
But I am met with nothing but quiet from them all
I carefully cross the charred, blood stained grass
And with every empty pair of eyes I pass
I refuse to acknowledge
That my promise to save them was an empty pledge

First I plead and pray with all my will
Desperately wanting to wake them from this stone-cold chill
I pinch, prod, and poke
Begging them to announce that this is all a joke
I shove, kick, and flick
Hoping that'll do the trick
Soon I become angry
For connection with another human, I'm all consumingly hungry
I strike and pound their broken bodies
But every single one ignores my pleas

I know I must flee
Before this madness swallows me
But as I continue my jaunt
Their soundless cries for help, won’t stop their haunt
My grief swirls in, out, and around
With the force of a hurricane it comes abound
My limbs distort and mangle
While ribs protrude in an unseemly angle
My cracked lips twist and screw
Asking death to take me too