Chapter Text
Down the canal, they came,
Seeping in at a slow, slow pace.
They entered without haste, as they
Had no desire to be spotted right away.
In the first place, it was crucial for them
To discern whether the inside of
The nervous labyrinth was inhabitable.
Feet fouled with decay, trailing down the halls,
The tissue absorbing and spreading mild illnesses.
Small seeds for future collapses.
Can you feel the hit, yet?
Regardless of whether you’ve slept for two or eleven hours,
Your bones are just as heavy and weary.
Life seems like a chaotic, aimless aeroplane,
With heightened sensitivity and
A profound sense of confusion and loss.
Once deep in the pit,
The body screams and shouts for aid.
The tears will not feel like cleansers,
Not like the weight being lifted from your muscles.
And with your racing mind,
You’ll believe you’re falling mad,
Or worse, that
You are about to die.
Then they multiply,
And that is when everything gets worse:
Knife thoughts, becoming knife actions;
Death ideas, becoming death wishes;
And the rats have made you firmly believe
That the issue is you.
And, of course, there is no turning back.
Either they will gulp you alive, or
They will chew up your corpse.
Your choice.
Do not be alarmed when your attempt
To swallow the poison will end up in
Spitting it out,
The inner healthy tissues are
Still fighting to survive.
Whether you like it or not,
That’s how you were programmed to act
In extreme situations.
Try drowning in the sea to see
How you’ll crawl back to survive.
Did you get it now, or not yet?
Ask yourself:
Do you want to die or
Do you want something in you to die?
If you don’t believe in what you feel,
How will others realise it?
If you do not care about yourself, who else will?
Either take the poison, or
Strive to understand why the rats surfaced.