A Month in Hell

For one month I dwelt
Half in hell
& half in this, the living world.

Food turned to ash
In my mouth,
The milk & cream of heaven
Curdled in my throat;
And undernourished, I became gaunt & frail.

I choked on every
Inward breath and
Vomited upon every exhale;
And asphyxiated, my face was stained & pale.

Nature withered in my gaze
And fauna fled my path.
My father froze in the mountains
My mother drowned in the sea;
And alone, I knew arrant fear.

No blade could pierce
My pallid skin
And excise my throbbing pain;
I was as granite to a spear.

I could not die.
And unable to die
I could not live;
And the other half slips into the inferno.