Corridors of Madness

I wrote the following one day because I couldn't NOT write it. I was recently deeply hurt by someone. Ah, but we've all been hurt many times, haven't we? It think it is more devastating to me, when it is by someone I called friend. And the hurt comes more from an overwhelming disappointment than anything else. You lose not only a lover..but a very good friend.  Only sometimes we 'read' people the way we want to believe they are, and while we listen to what they say...sometimes we don't really hear the words. Because people tell us who they are all the time. Whether we listen or not..can be our downfall. . 

Corridors of Madness 

Sometimes we get drawn into the corridors of madness

In someone else’s mind. 

Moaning, screaming, corridors of madness…

You feel the pull of your rational mind, 

Pleading with you not to go inside, to resist the morbid temptation…

But you can’t resist the corridors of madness

In someone else’s mind. 

Things there that you’ve never seen

Things that you’ve never felt, unheard of , never done.

You’ll just have a tiny peek..won’t venture too far..

Into the twisting, vibrating, pulsing corridors of madness

In someone else’s mind. 

You begin to believe things you can never believe. 

You begin to see things that you can never see. 

Things that change you, mold you, shape you, twist you into someone you don’t recognize 

Because you are traveling in the corridors of madness

In someone else’s mind. 

The corridors envelope you , a foggy, misty veil. They tell you it‘s all right. 

You will be happy now. 

You believe. You substitute fantasy for reality.

Until they slam then door and you are trapped. 

In the corridors of madness. 

In someone else’s mind. 

You gasp for breath. You run, but the madness tangles your legs. 

You feel sanity slipping gently from your fingers. 

You struggle. Fighting to free yourself. 

Almost too late you realize what a dangerous place. 

The corridors of madness

In someone else’s mind. 

The madness lures you, seduces you, fills you with such longing

That is never fully satisfied. 

It gives you a tiny taste of all the things you ever dreamed of..

Only to tempt you to give yourself more and more. 

Because that is the purpose. 

To break you, take all that is good from you. 

It’s so very difficult to free yourself

From the corridors of madness

In someone else’s mind. 

You find one last surge of strength…and break free from the tangled madness. 

You look back in fear and deep dark sadness…

Push the door open! Push it, hurry!! 

Kick the hollow bodies out of the way, Run, run hard for freedom!!! 

Beautiful sunlight ,fresh air fills your being with an all-consuming wind that 

Swirls around you from your feet, slowly up your body, gently lifting your hair. 

Like a lover’s caress. 

Take deep breaths and face the sun. Warming your face…the gentle lapping of the river on the banks, calls you to cleanse yourself. 

Despite yourself, you look back, 

Smiling a bittersweet smile as the door slams closed.

You bow your head for just a moment of sorrow. 

As you look up..forward again…

Love, light and warmth fills your soul.

You are free from the corridors of madness. 

In someone else’s mind.

Michelle Carney

Scarlett Butterfly

2011