The Monster Inside Me
Poetry is the food of the soul. It's my greatest contribution to the world and an area I can always grow.
A Few Words in Advance of Reading
This poem was written on a dirty scrap of paper at a time when everything in life was dark and the walls were closing in. I recently discovered it while sifting through a box of old writings, while working on a manuscript.
Many people have written memoires about low periods in their lives and how those low periods inspired them when they rebounded. Others read those books and find inspiration to fight their own monsters, and some emerge victorious. I'm not interested in going back to those dark days, for any reason, but when I reread this piece, I had to share it. It is exactly in the same raw form that I wrote it more than 35 years ago. You will figure out why I call it the Monster Living Inside of Me. I'm just a regular guy who got caught up in something irregular. I fought a hellish battle, but emerged a better man on the other side.
The Monster Inside of Me
There is a monster living inside of me
We all have one
Some keep the beast tightly bound
Hidden deep in a pit
Where the creature can do no harm
Nor show its hideous features
Others, like me, feed the monster
We let its ugly face be shown
It tears our soul to pieces day after day
Yet, we do little to try and control it
We show the beast daylight much too often
And it grows even stronger
Soon it becomes the master and we become the slave
Mind is no longer mind
Body no longer body
The monster goes on a feeding frenzy
Days become hours
Weeks become minutes
The destruction moves a breakneck speed
Until the monster destroys itself
And takes the host along for the ride
It kills as it has always killed
And moves on to start the tragedy again
Unless
Someone steps in to stop it
Unless
The powerless become powerful once again
But few remain
And most succumb and finally surrender to the monster
Yes, this monster has a name
An evil name
So powerful it kills with a whisper
It's called cocaine
© 2021 Ralph Schwartz