Monsters

A photo frame containing a family,

Now faded, a life abandoned.

He recalls the previous state of affairs.

When joyous noises had filled these corridors.

~*~

The quiet is broken by the clatter of ice.

Too huge for one, this vacant house.

His grave is a mausoleum, yet there is no repose.

Damn by his own will for this sad person.

~*~

Through looking glass, he falls.

In half a glass, half asleep

Of Jack, rocks, and bygone eras,

And an agony he will never escape.

~*~

He battles the creatures that plague his nightmares.

That cast whispers and shadows in these spaces.

The agony is lessened by the alcohol.

However, dawn always returns.

~*~

He questions if it would have persisted.

They had previously argued, but not to this extent.

He knew he loved her, yet he was unable to stop

It was always his fault, the beast inside him.

~*~

She fled the house with their boy.

He gave his son a final embrace.

When he got back, they would play in the garden.

The ball remains at the rear entrance.

~*~

In the downpour, he saw them drive off.

His face concealed his embarrassment as he shed tears.

What had they already discussed?

When was fighting a final resort?

~*~

He pleads with the creatures that taint his days,

For a little respite, a break from this insanity,

as well as the uncertainties that haunt his waking hours;

Those are the questions no one will ever know the answers to.

~*~

By the time the doorbell rang at midnight,

A man in a uniform, holding his hat.

The officer asserted that they did not suffer.

Nobody was at fault for the damp roads.

~*~

Suddenly they were only recollections.

His laugh, his delight; her touch, her grin.

ceased to exist during a violent incident,

Glass and twisted metal, a disaster in the rain.

~*~

A year passes, yet he remains stuck in that moment.

Their son was at her side as she turned away.

He would do anything to shout her name.

Ask her to remain, apologize, and go after her.

~*~

He yields to the monsters who cradle his bones,

Submits to their will and surrenders his soul.

All he wants now is to see his family once more.

Put an end to this torture, and follow them out the door.