The Prisoner

He peeks out from the slits,

Tries to catch a glimpse

Of the world,

I denied him.

 

I ignore his transgression,

Affording him respite

From all the torture

I caused.

 

We used to be friends once,

My only friend once upon a time,

We would while away hours

Like seconds.

 

Of dreams and fantasies,

And far-away lands,

We built constructs of thoughts,

And then destroyed them,

Just like that.

 

Sometimes I hear him scream,

In the silence of lonely nights,

I shut my lids tighter,

By dawn, it's quiet.

 

Through childhood had we been,

Close as close can be,

And he made me who I am,

But he is inside now.

 

I remember bludgeoning him,

His daunting build defeated,

Because he would not yield,

I remember trying.

 

Sometimes he tries to seduce me,

Into opening the dark door,

With promises of riches none can give,

I ignore.

 

The hands he breathed life into

Fettered him.

And now he screams.

 

On wistful days I wonder

If in bereaving myself of him,

I shackle myself -

I draw a blank.

 

He fades with every rising sun,

His screams grow distant,

And as he dies, bit by bit,

Takes me along.

 

Fate made a monster out of me,

I might just kill him and find,

No place in heaven,

No peace at all.

 

I never wanted to do this, of course,

It was a struggle within me,

It tore me apart,

In two.

 

I rue the day I had to chose,

And in doing so set myself free,

I locked inside the prison of ambition,

The philosopher inside of me