Joyce Peters – “Hollow”

Poetry

Hollow

A predator is living within me

Preying on my insides

A scrap of flesh at a time

Grabbing tearing chewing and digesting

The feeling so painful yet so interesting

The feeling of nothing

Like being frozen numb

So you don’t know when you lose your thumb

But for me, it’s my heart

I can feel the terrible gnawing

My screams of agony translated to deep sighs

I tried to cry

But the tears evaporate from the heat of pride waiting in my throat before they could reach my eyes

At least I can say I tried

So I’ll wait

I’ll wait till I’m hollowed out

Till there’s nothing more to eat

And the predator will sleep

Then I can regrow

Regrow my ecosystem

My inner peace

Then I’ll hope

Hope the predator stays asleep

Joyce Peters