The Voices Project
Follow us
  • POETRY LIBRARY
  • ABOUT
  • SUBMIT
  • RESOURCES

Gehenna~ By Raechel deMink

10/9/2018

1 Comment

 
Transfixed by terror,
barricaded by
demons,
I can’t stop trying
to weaken the wall
with my head,
with my fists,
with my heart;
I can’t stop trying
to scale the wall
with my palms,
with my nails,
with my mind;
I can’t stop looking
at their cupped
hands, their bunched
fists, their bent
fingers
closing in;
I can’t do this
I can’t
I

?

The throat
of my silence
is raw
from screaming
Into a black
hole

a black
hole
like the one
you pierced,
like the one I
believed,
like the one I make
when I open
my voice
and nothing
leaves.

I shoot pleas
at strangers;
they smile
or avert
and the screams
bloom louder in the field
between my chest
and my throat;
they bloom louder
and louder
until the eruption settles
and a few hearts
know.

I stand
with my hands
around bars,
my eyes
bulging
while I gush
truth
that even I can’t
believe,
and the hearts listen
and furrow
and apologize
and leave.

The land is silent
as the hearts run
home
to lock their
doors
and latch their
windows
and close their
curtains
to get on
with their own lives.

I know I’m not
the only speck
in this dust bowl
but I am lonely
and terrified
and fuming
at the struggle
of surviving this
alone. 



Author Bio:
Raechel is a writer and artist dedicated to reclaiming and using her voice to tell truth without apology. Through her writing and art, Raechel hopes to inspire, encourage, and empower others who've been silenced to take the leap of faith that is speaking up and releasing.
1 Comment
KAREN BOMAR link
10/9/2018 04:23:00 pm

Very powerful and heart-wrenching.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Poet Search

    by last name

    Archives

    January 2023
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012

    RSS Feed

Contact The Voices Project: editors@thevoicesproject.org