Fear
Carmina Anna Catalan
Deranged eyes roll back and hot spittle flies
Watch and stare and see how the madness drips
Like poison from pale, thin and twisted lips.
In the distance, down a hall, a child cries.
And when the sweetest music sounds like lies
And from raw and ruined throats a scream rips,
It’s vile and bloody and shivers nip
Through layers of self-control, consumes and dies.
Be afraid not of soft sounds that you hear
Boogeymen lurk under every bed
Be afraid instead of stranger’s dark leers
Believe true in instinct’s deep-seated dread
And when you can taste those bitter salt tears
Note stark contrast to metallic bloodshed.
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