I killed the monster,
and I am empty.
all I see is war everywhere I look,
spilling over the grassy knoll,
the pebble beach,
drowning in the river with the sunset.
I tried to preserve the kingdom,
but the ruins slipped through my fingers,
now I stare at my hands in the darkness,
the scrapes glaring at me from my white hands,
where I used to hold a sword,
why couldn’t I save you?
I am more than just one person,
I killed a monster,
I could have done more.
That’s why I was a knight,
because I can’t sleep,
only swing my sword
to put the beasts down,
but what do beasts do when they are hunted
by the ghosts of what they could have been?
*
Art: “The Return” by Rebecca Mock.
*
Word Not World series is an interactive anthology where I show a picture, and use the words inspired by the picture to make a poem, such as this one. This poem was inspired by the words, “ruin,” by Sudir (@sekharansudhir) and “perseverance,” by Emily (@eo2inspire4u). If you would like to participate in next week’s Word not World series, keep an eye out on Instagram @enis.st.sparrow and here on St. Sinjin, I will post a picture on Sunday.