Ascend
With every push
and every pull,
all her mind tells her is “Shh”
as she, with numbness, grows full
She holds in the heartbreaking screams
and masks the pain with smiles
She reminisces over the dreams
and cringes at the nightmares’ miles
of suffering and darkness
Eventually, her inner demons
are let loose in a feverish madness -
with words and fear their only weapons
Soon enough, the imagination
morphs into reality
and her attention
only zeroes in on brutality
Nothing is safe and nothing is kind
all of the warmth is a disguise
It’s a sick, appealing trick of the mind
True horrors are hidden beneath beautiful lies
Only she sees it all;
everyone else is blind
They treat her cruelly and let her fall
deeper into the depths where it’s hard to find
a shred of light
a glimmer of hope
And she tries with all her might
to find the heavenly rope
that will free her from the depths
to pull her up and ascend
into Heaven - or someplace else -
after the horrible, bitter end