Member-only story
Poem | Poetry
Crimson Flower Rain
Based on the writing prompt #37: Emptiness — A Missing Soul.
I am dirt and disorder
What did the days matter?
All that hypocrisy
Once ruled my mind
This masquerade I wore
Was it worth anything, after all?
Resistance is impossible
I see it now clear
Deluded, I was
Deceived, I was
So I uttered indiscreet words
Again and again
Crimson flower rain falls
Washing the lies away
Wait… does it cleanse, or sting?
Is it healing or just more pain?
I can’t tell anymore
Numb, I was
Unseen and unheard,
What did I live for?
What price did I pay?
If I return to dust
What will there be?
A fool’s hollow parade
For none to see?
I am a soul undone
With these trembling hands
Was I ever alive?
This poem is inspired by The Death of Ivan Ilyich, a novella by Leo Tolstoy in which the main character confronts the emptiness behind the facade he defended.
“Can it be that I have not lived as one ought?” suddenly came into his head. “But how not so, when I’ve done everything as it should be done?”
“And he has to live like this on the edge of destruction, alone, with nobody at all to understand or pity him.”
Some a-must-read poems I think resonate with mine.
Check this out if you want to join Poetry Playground.
© 2024 by Afiani Rui
Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I sincerely hope it touched you or brought you joy in some way. Don’t hesitate to ask or offer any comments and claps. Enjoy your reading!
