Evil whispers echo through the space behind my eyes

penetrating to the core, they absorb my last drops of youthful exuberance

“it’s safe here, no need for change”

Venomous lies fester and disillusionment sets in

promises of deep meaning, once a cornerstone of blind optimism

shatter and leave me hollowed

succumbing to a vacuum of vapid, vicious despair

Embracing narcissistic impulses, I morph into an enemy of the self

feeding on the missives of false prophets

savage, disingenuous solutions

devouring the barren landscape that once contained my soul

A sordid curtain is draped over the pain and hurt

a decaying shroud of pessimism, pestilence and counterfeit piety

the remaining crumbs of a future once bright, now suffocate, terminal

Charlatan pigs descend upon my thoughts

spreading ideological flatulence at once reviled and absorbed

layer upon layer of deplorable pablum

the evil combination of word and deed poisoning all chance at hope

I retreat toward a river of tainted, shadowy promise

churning – its sinister, sordid current a mirror

reflecting the paternal disregard that spawned such anguish and malaise

My tears of impure intentions dissolve into a vortex of abhorrent truths

realization around countless, irreparable missteps

sowing the seeds of searing shame

I awaken to the fresh taste of failure and rebuke

an evil film on the lips of a dying mensch

cultivating darkness, decay, a dogged despondence

Saving grace cedes to excrement and my empty, guttural musings

drained and exposed like a gasping swamp, the stench of misery and eternal desolation

wafts thick through stale morning air

An agony that knows no bounds intensifies –

“swallow hard, oh miscreant, your journey has only begun”