A darkness has dwelt within me

for longer than I can remember.

It sits, nestled deep,

tempting me with its wares and false promises.

How did I come to this?

How did such a thing go unnoticed?

I claim to be well-knowledged,

yet I overlook a flaw within me so obvious

that it would take a fool to miss it.

What kind of oxymoronical bullshit is that?

I continue to fight it, to keep the rage

and the other manifestations of it in check.

To keep from hurting the ones I care about.

But can I?

I can catch the glitter of sunlight by walking beneath it,

but am I really walking in the light

or is it some delusion I conjure for myself

in a futile attempt to ignore the problem?

Talking doesn't do a damn thing.

All I can do is hope…plead,

To anyone who will listen,

that the only person that gets hurt

is me.

The taint is for my soul alone,

and after that, for the world's embrace

to smother and leave to be forgotten.