Wilderness
The illustration and poem are inspired by a nightmare I had once that looked like a scene from a thriller movie 😵💫
Wilderness
I stepped into a marshy land
Where leaves were pink and flowers black,
Where rain never stopped and winds roared,
Where wolves howled in scattered packs.
Where leaves were pink and flowers black,
Where rain never stopped and winds roared,
Where wolves howled in scattered packs.
The sound of rain that touched the ground
Rendered my ears beyond repair,
Like metal plates and iron rods
Came crashing through from in the air.
Rendered my ears beyond repair,
Like metal plates and iron rods
Came crashing through from in the air.
My eyes peered up to find a star or two
So loneliness would wither away,
But all in sight was a muddy brown sky
And a night that seemed would forever stay.
So loneliness would wither away,
But all in sight was a muddy brown sky
And a night that seemed would forever stay.
I took one step and then two more
To reach a house with large oak gates,
A picket fence stood gaping around
I waited to see if there were any inmates.
To reach a house with large oak gates,
A picket fence stood gaping around
I waited to see if there were any inmates.
I stood and I stood until I didn't realise
I'd fallen down on prickly grass,
My knees got peeled and elbows sore
But weariness had me collapse.
I'd fallen down on prickly grass,
My knees got peeled and elbows sore
But weariness had me collapse.
And there I lay for an hour maybe,
Or a day or two, I'll never know,
With soiled hair and rugged cheeks,
Eyelids shut and an aching brow.
Or a day or two, I'll never know,
With soiled hair and rugged cheeks,
Eyelids shut and an aching brow.
But I did open my eyes a little
As much a slit of a buttonhole,
And tried to see what came in sight
Amidst this premise as dark as coal.
As much a slit of a buttonhole,
And tried to see what came in sight
Amidst this premise as dark as coal.
Black trees was all I could see,
With every push of the wind they swayed,
And then appeared a shoe before my eyes
Stained, tattered, torn, decayed.
With every push of the wind they swayed,
And then appeared a shoe before my eyes
Stained, tattered, torn, decayed.
I ran up my gaze from bottom to top
To find the face of the lord of the shoe,
In a forest of grey beard there was
A wrinkled visage and a smile askew.
To find the face of the lord of the shoe,
In a forest of grey beard there was
A wrinkled visage and a smile askew.
"You shouldn't be here, I wont allow,
Go back, go back at once, I say,"
He yelled in an utter dreadful voice
As he scorned at me to go away.
Go back, go back at once, I say,"
He yelled in an utter dreadful voice
As he scorned at me to go away.
My collar clenched he picked me up
And pulled me close near his chin,
He shook me like an old box of matches,
My world'd never be as it had been.
And pulled me close near his chin,
He shook me like an old box of matches,
My world'd never be as it had been.
With every shake I let out a scream
Strong, powerful, forced but muted,
All my cries went to waste,
My voice was gone, forgotten and diluted.
Strong, powerful, forced but muted,
All my cries went to waste,
My voice was gone, forgotten and diluted.
And then came on the final quake
And my eyes widened like never before,
With a jerk and jolt I sat up quick
To find myself in bed, indoors.
And my eyes widened like never before,
With a jerk and jolt I sat up quick
To find myself in bed, indoors.
Dripping with sweat my forehead hurt,
"It was a dream, a dream!", I tell myself,
How ill-fated does one have to be
To see such a thing at quarter past twelve?
"It was a dream, a dream!", I tell myself,
How ill-fated does one have to be
To see such a thing at quarter past twelve?
So I wash my face and lean against the sink,
The Wilderness replaying inside my head,
And like every drop of water racing down
I wait till its last memory is shed.
The Wilderness replaying inside my head,
And like every drop of water racing down
I wait till its last memory is shed.