Illusion Poem by Thomas Ware

The sky is burning,
The earth is churning,
There's no life left within my sight.
Raging fires burn the ground,
And lightnings' striking all around,
And darkness is our only guiding light.

Out of the corner of my eye,
I see a thing I might describe,
As being ghastly; demonic to a fault.
I turn about but cannot see,
What I thought that I saw; presently,
I turn to walk but then I halt;
In my periphery, I see again,
The seeming writhing of a creature,
Desperately in pain.

With lightning speed about I whirl!
Of dark colors I seem to catch a swirl.
I twist and turn but all in vain;
I do not see the thing again,
Until I feel cold hands,
Shattering my brain.