Ravenous
Phrique’s Poetry Corner is starving for some new content. Who am I to deny them?
I’ve always been fascinated by the notion of sin or pain eaters. I wanted to do a story about a pain eater, but thought a poem seemed so much more succinct/effective. I’m learning as I go, I go dark & rarely flowery. I tested out free verse too & liked it! Then I threw together a little mockup of cover for it because whateva, I do what I want! 🖤 It’s short & sweet this morning, as I have a new story idea I need to type out before I forget all the details I want to add in it. 🫨 Enjoy!
Ravenous
By Phrique
You said it yourself.
You couldn’t remember
When we’d first met.
Telling you now,
Just like I told you then.
I’ve always been here.
You never summoned me.
You never had to.
Like my last return,
You were my next investment.
You’d offer morsels, nibbles, scraps.
When your puppy wouldn’t wake,
Flavors danced across my tongue.
When you scraped your knee,
The sweetness bled onto my waiting lips.
When the calls from Grandpa stopped,
I bathed in the excess.
No.
We never truly met.
Not ‘til you needed me,
That fateful night.
The night my cravings took root.
I distracted you from the agony.
A voice to drown out the sirens,
The tender touch to ease the bite of the seatbelt,
A smile to rival the sparkling glass dotting the rubble.
Impact, devastation, blinding shock for you.
Aromas, abundance, anticipation for me.
Torn skin, exposed bone, whimpering sobs.
Succulent rivers of blood & agony flowed.
I could have gorged myself.
Feasting until we both perished.
Growing fat off your torment,
Extracting every last drop,
Just a bloated, contented corpse.
No.
I kept you alive.
Let you see another day.
I knew when you came to be.
Your sorrows were destined for abundance.
Your losses would be insurmountable.
Your bloodlines unremarkable.
Your tender heart never fulfilled.
I could eat well until your last dying day.
That fated day, today.
How I’ve waited for this moment.
Watched you meander through the muck.
Searching for semblance, for meaning.
Any love you found I’d soon devour.
Life knocked you down,
I kept you there.
Now you’re but a withered shell,
And I’m wasting away.
You’ve betrayed me, grew resilient.
Starving me in the process.
I should have let it happen.
Yet whispers told me to wait.
Now the hour is upon us.
Our last dying breath.
Only you won’t go alone.
That sweet scent resurges.
A heir has emerged
To witness your flame extinguish.
How selfless of you,
A final parting gift.
Now you’ve gone cold,
Remitting this ominous inheritance.
An unwitting recipient of misfortune.
Though not right now,
No not quite yet.
One light flickers out,
Anew already ablaze.
Tears tasting of grief, remorse
Tantalizing my waiting jaws.
Tragedy perfumes the air,
Overwhelming my senses.
The scent of imminent ruin,
The promise of feasts to come.
finger snaps
Passive-aggressively Yours,
Phrique 🖤