I see them...

“I see them”
By F. David Schultz

I see them.
Their mouths open and bleeding.
Sores forming on their hands.
I see them.
Waking. Dreaming.
I see them.

Dripping, leaking, the blood
Flows
Out.

Mouths agape in silent screaming ecstasy.
I hate them.
I see them.
Their eyes glazed over, the pain
gone
numb.

And I stare into their silvered eyes,
Hold a hand to my lip
And pray.

What will become of me?
What will happen when the lights go out?

Dripping, oozing,
They lick their bloody lips.
Do they feel pain? Do they feel like I do?
What happened to them? What happened that made them change so suddenly?

And oh.
Oh.
The heartache they must feel.
They must have felt.
Could they have felt.
If it had been.
Oh.

And I see them still.
They wait. They leer.
They look beyond the glass
and reach out with their fragile hands.

I want to reach back.
To hold them.
Caress.
Comfort.
But I cannot.
I see them
and they frighten me
Disgust
Dread me.
Do they know how I feel, with my eyes glazed over?
Eyes yearning for a better time

Freedom
From the coil
The wretch
The worm.
Hatred. Swirling.
Burning.
Quenching nothing.
I see
they wake.
I see
the storm.
I see
the ending of all things.
Biting, licking, touching, yearning.
Hateful, spiteful, bitter creatures.

And I will still see them.
For now. For
ever.
I see them always.
Waking.
Dreaming.
Through the glass.
They see me, too.