tread lightly

 
I am hated among women
slithers the guilt and then the dread
wrestling with demons I concur madness
overtures of screams announce my presence

on the winds dead voices are carried
to the quiet places I reside
doomed epiphany there will be no peace
just more of their cacophony

boils my blood and I'm there
deep in the recesses of the malformed psyche
while insanity catcalls  me

I run deeper to get away,
relax says the nightman
we are programmed to receive
I checked out a long time ago
there is no turning back

I must go forward
into the nightmarish terrain of the tepid soul
inking out a sliver of understanding
on which to traverse

I scream in the void
it echoes back
hush we're listening
we smell fear

tainted hope
beauty is an illusion
in hell we trust