Void

By Kathy L

Posted on January 1, 2024

Cover Image Title: Cloudscape Radiance

Cover Image By: Christopher Lin

Classification: Photography

Specifications: 4032 px X 3024 px

Year: 2023

Location: Pompeii, Italy

There it is, the gaping hole

Its mouth wide, 

Teeth splayed like shards of glass that tear away

At my vulnerable mind,

my heart, 

my soul. 

The hole spreads its entire being,

Mocking, condescending, 

And I feel my head buzz. 

It hurts, 

But I’m used to it. 

Blood red and pumping, 

Upon my heart, I feel its bite, 

Razor teeth and searing burn,

I hope, and wish, 

For something to fill, the endless void. 

Thoughts swirl, 

But it’s a mindless mumble,

And throbbing thunders, 

As I run my fingers through my hair. 

Underneath, 

There’s something deeper

A faded scar that pulsates,

Pain I’ve always known, 

Always felt. 

And even stashed away,

In the deepest pits of my soul, 

I feel it burning away, 

Like the gaping hole. 

It widens its mouth, 

And flames away, 

The cavity, scorching, raging, 

Till it’s all, 

Just ashes and soot.

The crack, 

Once painful, 

Becomes excruciating. 

It’ll always be blood red, 

The void I wish to heal, 

But I feel that my heart no longer beats

With joy like innocence, 

And I surrender, 

To the void. 

Description: 

This poem was created during a dark time period of life when everything felt meaningless, and empty. It uses an extended metaphor to compare the empty feeling to an actual void in the body that sucks away all joy. It conveys overthinking and old wounds that come back and haunt one during tough times.