Ariadne's Thread

Marked with Innocence, I knew that time was upon itself to move on. I hurt, shrouds of pain fell over me-full of guilt and frustration. The knowledge I had meant nothing to me. Thoughts waged war in my mind, firing the images of you onto and upon the paper thin existence that I call myself. Hollowing out in pain I cried as the mortar shells exploded with a fiery passion around me, I cried out "Why take an innocent child in death-in war, Why O'Lord, why?

Mocking the image cast in the river's pool of hate, I moved on with the passing wind. Slowly I walked through the crowded valley of lost souls, walking past the myriad of stores lit with confusion, lit with the anguish of the souls who haunted these vacant places in search of a cure, in search of a remedy, in search of anything to stop the wicked, senseless torture of the days gone by, anything to stop the laughter, anything....I wandered on. From store to store, from village to village, I heard voices-pleading with the devil, crying out in hunger, crying out in pain, I was lost. Quickly I grabbed my mother's hand, gripping it as if it were the only nourishment I had, I held on tightly, tighter, I mustn't let go, I can't I won't, fearing for my life as the feverish wolves passed by me like a sea of blood crossing the pale, fragile barrier of a young man's wrist, I held on. I felt the beating of my heart growing with every moment that the demons circled, it pounded with fear, it was swollen with frustration, I held on, hoping, wishing praying, I closed my eyes....

...... Horrified at what I had seen, I walked on... as these untimely questions hammered my head- like a nail into a board, I walked on.....

The only light that shown in the sky slowly faded away, it sunk deep into the horizon's warm fertile nest. The darkness surrounded me, voices, howls from the night screamed in some distinct chaotic unison around me as if it was some dark melodic theme song known only to them, I fell to the ground in fear-that all was lost. I gripped my clothes as they were torn from my body by the ravenous wolves who stood in a circle around me. The blood began to drip, the body began to boil, nothing could save me now from the hunger from within, nothing a doctor could cure, or minister could forgive, nothing-yesterday is like tomorrow, nothing will come of it.

Encapsulated, I felt warm despite the bitter laughter that now penetrated my frail skin with needles of misery, sorrow, and woe. For now, I was afraid-alone-among the millions of putrid corpses that rot around me, the stench, the fear of what tomorrow may or may not bring, I was alone. Suddenly the dead bodies reached out for me as if in some deadly invitation that was only meant for me. The rough skin reached out and touched my bare body, feeling all the crevices, all the pores, touching-feeling, running its jagged skin through the bristles of my hair, it explored my body as if it were a man on the moon looking for a new beginning. My armor was gone, my defenses lifted, I was dying. Down I fell to the sacred earth, down I fell to the sweet earth I had denied for so long. I fell hard to the earth, down I tumbled, down, down......Mother Earth welcomed me and whispered to me truths about my pathetic life, truths I had never known, never learned or never saw, She took my listless body into her ripe bosom and gave me the quick, silent death that I deserved. Slowly I flew into the ocean of eternity, into the ocean of tears that I had shed into the abyss of years gone by..slowly I flew on and on.....I began to swim, for once I knew what I had, and that was all I needed to know.....I was free, the coarse hands had broken down the walls that had held me in, they had stripped me of my body, my flesh, the blood that composed me, I was free!!!-for nothing I had remained....

My cage, my prison that had held me for so long was gone, it had disappeared, vanishing from my mind, MY SPIRIT FLEW AWAY, free, the prison bars were no more, iron, steel, flesh blood, gone, removed, FREEDOM!! Enslaved all those years, I was free at last.

Knowledge remains buried with my body; Knowledge never knows the truth; Truth can't hurt, not even the lies; Hold fast, strong to the heart of those who love you; Don't let go; Freedom lasts only a few seconds as the last breath slips away from your tainted soul. Remember the voices, remember the cries in the dark; Remember the shrieks and moans of a baby in pain; Remember me entangled in the branches of death,

remember me.