Bound Beneath

Jack Cohen

I found the book
buried beneath,
That wayward tomb
where dark things creep.

For the last three years
my companions and I,
Hacked through jungles
crossed deserts dry.

We sailed the oceans
we fought the beasts,
We climbed the mountains
ever onwards,

On our journey into the east.

Till the day when we became
The luckiest of all fools,
We stumbled upon
a temple at dawn,

And thought of nothing but jewels.

Ever down
we crept and crawled,
Through the webs and dust
of the tomb's dark bowels.

This ancient tomb
of yellow limestone,
Adorned with glyphs and markings
known to me alone.

Carried us deep
into the Earth,
Daring us thieves
to find its worth.

Then at last
we reached the chamber,
And the prize
begging us to claim her.

Upon that alter
bathed in pale light,
Layed the book
in all it's horrid might,

A leather-bound book
cracked and yellowed with age,
Sat there begging me
to turn a page.

My companions warned me
pleaded me not the approach,
But the call was strong
and the book had found its host.

As soon as my hand
touched the cover,
The ceiling shook
and before we could recover,
The great stone monument
was protecting its prize,
As it collapsed
I heard my friends cry.

I don't remember
how I escaped,
Or of my friends
their true fate.

The smell of fresh air
was all I could understand,
That and the feeling
of the book in my hand.

Its contents are strange
I can't understand them,
Only strange glyphs
my mind cannot comprehend.

And what's worse
every night as I sleep,
I can hear it whispering
into my mind,

They creep.

But I can't just leave it
it won't let me go,
No matter how it's burned
of how far that I row,
It's always there
within arms reach,
Whispering to me
this lifelong leech.

It calls and cries
and scream my name,
READ ME CUR
YOU CAN'T BE SAVED!

It's a demon, a monster,
It wants me afraid,
It needs me scared

To feed on my pain.

My only escape
an end to my life,
To escape this torment
this unholy strife,

If you find this journal
LEAVE THE BOOK BE!

Lest you share
the same fate as me.......

  • Author: Jack Cohen (Pseudonym) (Offline Offline)
  • Published: November 17th, 2021 22:27
  • Category: Gothic
  • Views: 13
  • Users favorite of this poem: L. B. Mek
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Comments +

Comments2

  • L. B. Mek

    Outstanding!
    Keep on climbing, aspiring
    dear Poet
    as the trail, you're leaving behind
    for us
    to follow: be shinning!

    'Carried us deep
    into the Earth, *Daring
    us would-be,* thieves
    to find its worth.'

    'And the prize
    begging us to claim *her.*'
    (why is it a Her?
    leaning a little towards
    absentminded misogyny, I think
    'that whole, damsel in distress
    metaphor, inequality
    is an archaic crutch
    of oblivious, literary traditions
    to say the least)

    forgive me, these are just my 2 cents worth of feedback
    I don't mean to undermine your creativity or perspective, in any way

  • tallisman

    A true story teller!



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