Emptied Its Darkness Poem by Robert Denton

The twilight came and emptied its darkness upon me.
I felt empty and alone as the day opened like a tulip.
But even though the clouds parted and the sun began to smile,
the darkness would not lift and whispered sardonically, 'you're not free.'
I do not remember a time in my youth, when I felt happy and safe.
I don't think I was ever really happy, not even now.
Critical analysis of everything around me only proved the conspiracy,
any amount of security is only for me a waif.

I went to the academic prison, hanging my head, trying to hide.
Nobody knew my pain, nobody understood my distance.
I was not hurt by the bruises, nor by the hits or the kicks or the names,
it was the lack of acceptance that made me cry.
I tried to tell them I had no control.
I tried to explain that I was not at fault.
But I had no voice. And if I did, the world around me was deaf,
so my heart grew heavy and black like charcoal.

Then the dusk fell, hard and heavy as dead weight.
The distant sound of television aimlessly cutting the silence.
My privacy had been compromised by the selfishness of others,
which is how I learned the meaning of hate.
It is amazing the blindness that lives among those claiming to see.
Overwhelming aloneness, yet shrouded by this human infestation.
And even though the moon shone as a night light,
the twilight came and emptied its darkness upon me.