Castle Contract
The power of release
Come, lean against me, my love
Your head against my shoulder,
I bend my neck and breathe in your curls.
I cannot hold you;
My wrists and ankles shackled to these castle walls.
Contract castle, Castle Contract
Come, let me look at your face,
Beauteous face,
It eases my pain, my torment, for a moment.
The shackles have worn callouses,
My skin, trying to protect me.
I am still so very broken.
For the castle walls have dragged through my skin,
My open wounds weep.
The infection, the pus, the maggots.
Ah, the bitter irony,
The maggots, writhing in me, biting me, excruciating
Will one day fly away, yet I am here still.
A long time ago,
Once there was hope,
Castle contract, Contract Castle …
… it will end soon. Do not weep my love, for
Death will be my sweet release, and I welcome it.
As the contract decrees:
“ ‘Til death do us part.”
About the Creator
Ruth Stewart
Never one to do one thing at a time, I'm currently writing a horror novel and a book of poetry for the daughters of narcissists. Come back soon for a link to be included in all my news, on Vocal and elsewhere. I'd love to get to know you!
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More stories from Ruth Stewart and writers in Poets and other communities.
Violence Begets
"Any last words, cowboy?" "None you'd understand, sodbuster." "Funny. That's Marshall Sodbuster to you. But I meant some last nugget that would help us in the adjudication of the myriad offenses counted against you and your gang. I wasn't asking for penitence."
By Adam Diehl4 days ago in Fiction
Comments (13)
Wow. This is powerful
Nice and Congratulations on your Top Story!!!
Back to say congrats darling on Top Story
Good
Delighted to see this Top Story recognition!
Excellent poem and merry Christmas! Congrats on a top story
This pulled me in with the imagery, Ruth, brought to mind my mortgage, Nice to see you writing on Vocal. Merry Christmas to you and the family. Hugs <3
Love the feel and imagery of this one Ruth. 😊 Great to read something of yours again. Best wishes for the new year ahead.
Torment of being shackled to the castle wall, very strong imagery of choosing death than staying imprisoned.
This was so poignant and beautifully written. Loved your poem so much!
I was thinking of your poem in context to a home being a man’s castle. I never heard a corollary for what it is for a woman. ‘Contract’ could be one description
I feel awkward commenting but want to be supportive. It is a stunning piece and very sobering and humbling former personally.
This was full of so much emotion and such incredibly vivid imagery. These lines really stood out to me: The maggots, writhing in me, biting me, excruciating Will one day fly away, yet I am here still What a powerful way to depict the hopeless feeling of being trapped. Even the maggots have more hope for freedom.