My Wake

Intoxicated with demise;
these dying eyes rolled back into this cold head
as I exhumed a frigid gust of air from my blackened lungs.

A cold sweat permeates from this icy mausoleum;
rushing through these narrow pores.

As my irises lay hidden in darkness; my eyelids
pull their curtains to reveal a yellow-eyed corpse.

This face, sunken into this cadaver;
still worthy of one last look.

I remember awakening in darkness,
only to be stirred by the familiar voices of my life

and a string of light
carved through the blackness.

I forced my arms up;
the light pulsed brighter.

I forced the lid open and a blinding gust of light shot me;
my face tasting fresh warmth.

Arise I did.
My eyelids split; light pours in.

The blur revises;
candle flames draw my stare.

How long has it been?
My body feels caped in stiffness.

Familiar faces come into focus;
their forms silhouetted.

I rise; a fissure forms along my back
as this coat of dead skin splinters, chips and shatters.