Acidic Infestation Poem by Yiling Ding

The fire seems to have cooled
The wild flames seem calmer now
I thought that I was over it
Was glad to be back to normal
Thought I was cured.

But now I realize that
I'm just infected more
deeply within.
The cancer's disappeared
from the surface,
moved into the darker,
deeper niches
of my heart.
Madly, madly
it corrodes me from within.

I may be free of
the sudden highs
the sudden lows
But in their place
a long drawn-out aching
A long sigh
and the faraway eyes
My mind's in its place
but my heart has disappeared
into the abyss
of its own creation.

Madly, madly.
I am contaminated
in the most secret
areas of my heart.
Again and again
the acid of this
destructive love
eats my soul away
Only to drive the
madness deeper within.

In secret,
I shed sour tears
full of this
corrosive affection.