Part Of The Chain Poem by Mark Cho

You have mail.

'hIdE....FrOm HER'

You open it with a snicker.
It's been a long day.
You needed a good laugh.

You realise
A poem is presented to You

'Ears.'
You hear
scratches
in the distance
faint

The next line
'Eyes'
Your light bulb
flickers
and dies
this Screen
is Your only
guide.

a chill drenches over You
but as if possessed
You read on, the next line:
'Mouth'
whispers
in Your ears
soft
but endless

the Final line
'Let Go'
as if the poem
was alive
You hear
the words
echo in Your mind

Suddenly

the scratches
turn into thuds
as Your room's window
is pelted by rocks, branches and sticks
it was like nature itself
wanted to invade
Your safety
the dark
comes alive
taunting You
with its illusions
feasting on Your sanity
the whispers
turn into chants
clutches
Your mind
losing it
into the night

You feel fingers
scratching
Your body
Earthly sensations
not human
You see Yourself
just an observer

Primal Terror
emanates inside You
did You dream up
this reality?
vines grip onto You
drags You into the screen
drags you
into Her Realm.

you see grey,
as if both
the sun and the moon
was torn from the sky.
your bare feet
sunk into the soil
it bears the familiarity
of Mother Nature
yet it was otherwordly
you feel like your head
was covered in thorns
you cannot see
your Predator
but you know
you are their
prey.

you sprint
the sand crunches
your soles
with every step.
dead oaks
surround you.
within them all
you see
Them
a body
Missing Ears
Missing Eyes
Missing Mouths
you hear their silent torture
like splinters penetrating your ears
their screams give life to the dead trees
the pungence of their rot
creeps into your nostrils
you feel them grasping your strides
into a trudge.

You freeze.
Your body a vessel of fear.
You hear the sounds of branches
grating each other.
like the knives of nature.

before you
a creature of bark and leaves
burrows towards you
Her eyes are the sun
scorching its gaze into your skin
Her teeth sharper than fish hooks
bursting of sap
Her vines latch onto your limbs
squeezing the final will from your body

as you come face to face
you hear the sounds
between that of a cougar's wail
and the guttural shrieks
of a boar being butchered
Her branches shoot out
and invade your Ears
like a parasite of sound
you feel Her branches
pressing into your Eyes
shredding your sight
you taste Her agony
ripping through your Mouth
a hollow taking its place

you feel Her seed festering
inside of your mind
a carriage for the Mother's offspring
you hear the voice in
your head, once more:
'Let Go'
your body becomes rooted as one
with the soil
until it belongs to
Her design
a cycle of this plane
while you remain
a prisoner of your mind.

Welcome to the chain.