Until now

I’d lost all hope

It took some time to realize

love is a cruel game

where knights and bishops

terrorize the pawns

You can’t be a rookie

on this checked board

or you become easy prey

War is inevitable

upon this battlefield

but a captured heart

does not mean defeat

I fought and I fought

picked up my sword

each time I fell

It took quite a few

scars and bruises

until l could be

crowned of victory

Love was cornered

by my hands

and I was the one

to declare:

"CHECKMATE!"

The land was barren

the sky was black

and in this world

they had taken away

everything from her

ripped love

straight from her heart

sieved hope

from all her veins

stomped on her faith

until she was malnourished

but she still

had her dreams

and she dreamed

of seeing

the smallest ray of light

through a crack

in the clouds

and so she walked

until her feet

were calloused and torn

until her bones

lost the marrow

until her strength

would carry her no more

then when she saw it

she fell on her knees

and crawled

the rest of the way

finally able

to savor liberty

with burnt skin

and chapped lips

she smiled

I let him

touch my heart

poison it

with his whispers…

Daddy had already

let love leak

leaving it forever broken

and empty

He played preacher games

flashing those pearly whites

to the congregation

begging them to have faith

to love and give to his God

but behind closed doors

he became Mr. Hyde

I didn’t have to fear

any monsters in the closet

with one

stomping

roaring

cursing

bruising her face

black and blue

I became a hollow shell

sifting every ounce

of his deliverance

from within me

and I let

Lucifer take his place

…his sweet words

lit a fire in me

his promises

fueled my rage

Hate was so easy

I sprinkled it

like hot sauce

to sear their casings

to make them

despise me like

that second devil did

My shield made of

ghost pepper skin

and I fit right in

with the demon’s warriors

I drank temptation

from chalices of fire

and the drug

was supplied

with every last drip

It was a taste so divine

I burned every bridge

I walked upon

My forked tongue

preyed on virgin ears

I lived in a treacherous paradise

and no one could touch me

without being cauterized

But the archangel

looking over me

had other plans

He told me how to pare

the charring off my flesh

To fill the empty vessel

with a different

type of flame

and when I touched

that light

I grew wings

It was the first time

I tasted liberty

but I still will never be

quite free

Because the fiend knows

the struggles of grace

He knows in those times

of tests and trials

we can be seduced by his claims

Though my soul

has been cleansed

it will always be ready for war

as Satan’s minions

will do their best

to churn the darker parts of me

He watched her

in her deepest sleep

to make sure

he wasn’t dreaming

He never imagined

someone so

beautiful and pure

could love

all the broken pieces

he left on the surface

@theraven6825

#poetry #nonfiction #challenge #ProseChallengeoftheWeek

Did I lock the front door

Is the A/C set to the right temperature

My lips are so chapped but I don't feel

like getting up for my chapstick

Calm down mind - I need sleep

I wonder how many times

I will toss and turn until my brain shuts off

Oh that was a good thought for a poem

hope I remember it in the morning

Tomorrow's Blossom

To see color again

when barren trees have left my mouth dry

how I thirst for scenery to resuscitate life

I am so tired of my pockets smelling like mothballs

and my stomach digesting fumes

from the waste of an unbalanced civilization

I have become weary living in the frames

of black and white photographs

camouflaged among the gravel roads

where many have trampled and rendered me invisible

inject me once again with verdurous hues

to bring life to my veins for tomorrow’s blossom

-2015 Donna J. Sanders