Sucker Punch date: 3-09-26 Poem by Leria Hawkins

His voice wears thin my peace
Leaving me shuddering, trying to shake it off
My arms and legs betray my command
Refusing to flee this den of despair
I hold my breath, try to force oblivion
Try to suffocate my thoughts, my mind
Only to gasp like a fish flailing in the hot summer sun
There is no escaping the onslaught
His whispered pleas, the lewdness of his droning
The constant rasp of metal on stone
His sticky sweet melody disgusts me
As it drills holes through my brain
Probing my resistance, seeking my weaknesses
While force feeding me the dregs of his sickness
Bile rises like a yellow flood in my throat
Acid, burning me alive from the inside
I want nothing of him, his lies, his deceptions
And I silently beg for his leave
But there is no turning, no loosening of the noose
Like spider to prey, I am bound in his strings
A yo-yo for his bidding, caught in the inevitable snare

Copyright/Leria Hawkins