THE GALLOWS

The Gallows

if a dream should perish… it would not be unlike the shattering of a star 

spreading its remnants across the nebulae 

long forgotten 

yet ever present 

for a dream carries a soul 

and who can truly attest to where a soul travels

after it dies?

 

1. the pilgrim

midway upon the journey of life 

i found myself 

a pilgrim

in a dark forest 

for the clear path 

was lost…

i cannot well recount 

how i entered the treacherous wood

so long had it been since 

i abandoned the true way

how shall i say what a dreary and horrid wood it was 

so bitter to ensure that death itself would be but little worse

several times upon my voyage

i sensed an unseen spirit trailing me 

yet when i approached

 the apparition vanished leaving no trace 

as time passed

i discerned faces etched into the crazily tilted trees

great and terrible monarchs 

philosophers and poets 

traitors and frauds 

bearing a countenance of a seemingly 

perpetual agony 

vines encroached upon the faced trunks

surging and swelling

as they leeched the dreams of those who suffered

how could i not have perceived this?

will my face become part of this

macabre collective?

how many have been sent to this purgatory before me?

i noticed a vigour guiding my footsteps

as if the trees had been steering me through my 

mindless trance of a journey

i chose to succumb to the ominous gravity

hoping to see if it would lead me elsewhere 

from the seemingly omnipresent desolation and wicked dreaming trees

after what had seemed like a lifetime 

for i could not distinguish hour from eon

i had approached a solitary tree

more twisted and malignant than the rest

a true monolith

and the center of the force that had beckoned me

 

as i beheld the tree

my body had been stripped of all sensation

and my mind of all thought

only the awareness of my lack of rationality had stayed with me

making the induction of my revelation all the more agonizing

for i learned of everything at once

and i now knew what truly stood before me

the tree of woe 

warden to all knowledge

knowledge begetting suffering incomprehensible

 

the magnitude of my pain and fear

was nothing less than unimaginable

except,

i could grasp its merit

for i had been bestowed all insight

too much to be borne 

by any son of man

i fled

fled as fast as my frail body could manage

for i knew what would come next

i now knew what lay in store

my wicked fate

as i fled back into the endless forest

praying for respite or an unlikely escape

 

 i remembered my life

the grave acts i had inflicted

marks impinged upon the lives of others

the false prophecies i bore

the lambs i chose to lead astray

i had truly been a stain upon righteous legacy

i had been brought to this purgatory

this mausoleum 

i would join those who suffered

dreams and hope confiscated in perpetuity

i reached the end of my resolve 

yet i could not accept this sentence

in spite of everything my legs had failed to stride further

until i saw the threshold 

the forest gave way into an open expanse 

i had become elated almost into delirium 

for i  escaped the malignant trees

or at least i had believed so

 

numerous steps 

countless steps 

i traversed the hinterlands

i had known within my now all encompassing mind

yet i refused to accept the reality of my fate

when i had gazed upon the horrible scape

of the very same forest i thought i had left behind me

i felt the very same eldritch force

pulling me closer

would it not have been better 

bears to maul me 

wolves to eviscerate me 

vultures to pluck and feast upon my innards

or even the enigmatic spirit 

who i’ve decided must be death 

to take my life?

instead i was only met with the 

staring trees and the 

nauseating silence of the

harrowing canopy. 

2. the king

i gasped and drew breath

greedily stealing the air that surrounded me

everyday of my life i had awoken to gilded vistas 

pillars of gold

light spilling onto velvet

my chambers bathed in damask

and yet

where was i now?

a commanding pressure weighed upon me as i stood up

coaxing me eagerly

as i traversed the forest 

i heard groans and pleading

from visages engraved into the trees

 

i saw those who had blighted history

nimrod, cain, herod, brutus, cassius, judas

treacherous and wicked visages flanked me

the nomad of defiled sands

the mercenary of the nameless province

those afflicted by the plague

the condemned, the remnant, the forsaken

and even those of the hollow mountain

the cacophony of suffering had now mutated 

the faces mocked and jeered

as if they knew something terrible would befall me

something i had not yet surmised

at last my wandering through the bitter forest 

had led me to one tree 

evidently older and more eminent than the rest i had seen

the tree was bare except for 

one low hanging fruit 

a bright crimson and promising vitality 

i had such longed for such a sacrament

my instinct had told me it was forbidden

yet how could i withstand such temptation?

i plucked the fruit

admiring its glistening skin 

i raised it slowly

savoring the moment 

and gorged myself

all at once the vibrant fruit had turned into a black sand

seeping through my fingers

and spilling down from my mouth

i had become horrified as the exalted tree

had now grown a face of its own

exhibiting a primordial rancor

for i had committed the greatest trespass 

the scorning of the surrounding trees grew into an insidious clamor

the great tree of woe began to open its dark semblance of a mouth 

the lesser trees joining the speech with perfect unity

altogether they boomed:

“where are your jewels now?

your robe and your scepter?

your pride?

you who once towered 

like the hollow mountain 

now shrink before me 

you who never earned your keep

you who have deceived

you who have raped

you who have enslaved

you who have murdered

you who reigned in tyranny

taking from the meek

living in excess 

as those beneath you die of starvation

the atrocities you’ve imposed upon the faithful

all of your misdeeds

now swirl in the chalice of wrath 

that you will soon insatiably drink of

and yet before you climb the 13 steps

you chose to commit one final sin

we leave you to your fate.”

i felt as if 

a swarm of locusts had now inhabited my stomach 

i could not scream

fear had now taken hold of me 

as i descended into a stupor

until i felt something even more dreadful 

a vile essence flanked me

a human hand 

now touched my bare shoulder 

 

 

3. the cannibal

a sharp light pierced my eyelids

awakening me from an ostensibly endless sleep

i knew and cared of knowing nothing except for

the voracious hunger that had riddled me

and how i would sate it

i stood up from the tree whence i laid

and began my search

as i roamed this epigean gaol

i realized in my hand i carried a short blade

a kris forged in the hollow mountain 

i took a moment to observe its curves

it felt proper to say the least

this familiar dagger in my hand

 

i had noticed the surrounding trees

contorted and misshapen

adorned with faces 

faces of those who were not unfamiliar to me

i did not dwell on this phenomena long

for my craving only intensified

and i felt pulled by a hidden influence

deeper and deeper i cast myself into the grove

bushes filled with seemingly delectable fruit encircled me

still i continued my trek 

for i knew no regular sustenance would appease me

i heard a dissonance not unlike thunder

emanating not distant from whence i stood

i crept behind the trees until i observed the culprit of the clamor

a tree standing tall above the rest

bearing a malignant expression

and another human 

carrying the semblance of an aristocrat or ruler

stood before the tree 

 

as i closer scrutinized the tree from my hidden view

all wisdom has washed over me

knowledge bestowed by the tree of woe

with my newfound wisdom came my memory

the dagger i had held

it belonged to none other than my mother

before i claimed it and turned it against her 

my first victim

 

i still remember the distinct taste of her innards

the taste of fear secreted from the pores of the flesh i gorged on

and the look of dread in her eyes

such treachery that would freeze the skin of cain

it was only then my eyes had been opened 

to the truth of life

i recounted the innumerable lives i have confiscated with the blade i held

 

the only thing better than the act 

are the penultimate moments 

the eyes profuse with fear

the frantic breaths

foreign but so delightful to my skin 

as i carved into 

my meals 

their implacable and cruel world 

they were sold into for a pittance 

loses its light 

it is mercy bestowed upon them

and my sustenance 

their soul departing their cage of flesh 

for my corporeal prison 

with every victim i pray 

i pray for my own death 

 

i had gazed upon the tree woe

my remembrance restored

i had knew all 

i now knew my fate

yet my purpose standeth unchanged

even the pale echoes of my heart were no more

only the implacable desire festering within my center

i would have my meal

i would sate my craving

i approached my newfound prey

turning his stupor to my advantage

the stench of horror was all the more arousing

my purpose would soon be fulfilled

i placed my hand upon his bare shoulder

 

 

4. the king (ii)

instantly after i turned around

i was confronted with cold steel 

parting the skin on my abdomen

and the eyes of a madman

my body slowly lost heat

i craned my neck down towards the dizzying scene

a blade dripping with my blood

and my entrails seeping from my very own body

my consciousness began to slip  before i could even fathom the horror 

my back had felt the corrupt soil of the forest

is this how i shall acquaint myself with death?

to hope that was the end of the nightmare was wholly illusory

i had reawoken to a harrowing vista

the cannibal had now glutted on my organs

his hands ripping my intestines from my living corpse

then he had switched his focus higher

he adjusted his position 

hovering the weapon over me once more

i felt the kris plunge below my sternum

he made a shallow incision

and then resolved to use his hands once more

they hooked into my parted skin 

i felt such anguish as he pulled the wrought flaps open

why was i not yet dead?

was this the horror the tree forbode?

my awareness only intensified my plight

he looked at me directly

 as he pulled my ribs apart

his eyes black chasms

clenching his fists

 his knuckles went white with desire

newly dried blood crackling on his skin

eyes burning with a vigor of another soul

 one that was not his 

“there’s really nothing to worry about at all… 

you’ll be just as good as new”

 

he began to consume the contents of my chest cavity 

dull teeth only made messier and more excruciating 

he ate in a ravenous, inhuman manner

lowering his mouth into my body 

pulling chunks 

chewing

swallowing 

repeating

if i was mad it would mercy 

may the gods pity the man who in his callousness 

can remain sane to the hideous end 

i

an observer to my own murder

at the hands of this cannibal

present for every second of torment 

this world is a tomb 

i was condemned to die 

before i could breathe

this was only stalking ground without prey

 

my vision had began to depart me

only the last thing i saw 

the cannibal had been snatched away from where he stood

the vines of the trees spread like the tendrils of the sleeper of R’lyeh

slowly splitting his limbs apart mid air

 indulging themselves on the flesh of his carcass

a miserable cacophony 

of his bones clashing 

with bark

the fire of madness has been snuffed from his eyes 

for a moment i could discern the twilight amorphousness of the vague abysses seething around him 

as if the trees were enthralled watching the bloodbath

“no sea is dark enough to hide the color of my blood”

his last words nebulous and foreboding

as his blood spilled into the trees that had feasted upon him

his death fitting to his way life

 

i 

bereft of most of my body 

felt my skin harden 

as what remained of my legs conjoined

my arms grew arms

my torso twisting and meandering

i knew i would now join this forest

a cavernous tree 

shaped by my sin

standing on the edge of time

another tree

to the forest of the living

a tree of suffering

 

at least it is true… that man has no control…

even over his own will 

 

 

5. the lovers

a faint presence

one not unfamiliar 

a flower that had been beside me all of my being

i rose

appreciating my surroundings

ethereal trees lined a verdant forest

the trees bore faces

singing hymns of union and adoration

i trod past each tree

careful not to sully any of the incandescent flora 

adorning the base of the singing trees

i perceived the scarlet presence 

a warm amorphousness 

paced alongside me

matching my movements and footsteps

not the shadow i cast

but an individual

 

at this very moment 

i felt two urgings 

an ominous and archaic force

one drawing me deeper into the forest

and a primordial impulse

i had wished to unite with the sanguine shadow beside me

as if nothing more had mattered 

a strange phenomena began to manifest 

the trees had stirred

leaning their branches towards us 

bestowing boons and offerings as we roamed 

i sensed that we advanced along their ordained path 

as they encouraged our advancement

finally i felt as if 

both the pulls could not grow any the more potent

we entered a distinctive grove

its innate beauty overpowering to behold

rivaling even the garden of eden

at the center of the splendor 

stood a most enchanting and resplendent tree

its transcendent nature beckoned me closer

it had leaned forward 

as the minor trees had

and proffered its very own offering 

a solitary flower

one alien to any species i had seen

beholding the flower had granted me 

my memory 

and knowledge of where i truly stood

i reached out to take the flower 

unable to restrain my compulsion 

i knew seizing it would inflict incomprehensible suffering 

yet i spurned the notion and continued my endeavor

five branches had immediately seized my arm

pulling me away from the flower of temptation 

no

not branches

fingers of a hand

i cast my gaze upon the one next to me

the radiant entity 

that had accompanied my journey

the vague form of the figure fell away

my eyes now beheld my lover

the one whose heart filled my empty ribcage

i the fog

my lover the river

the tender countenance eclipsing all that stood around her

and she began to say

gentle and low

“to strip the tree of old

of its treasured flower

would be

casting it

into the barren sands

for your fibers could never sustain it

why seek that which is not yours to own?

that which you cannot nurture?

rather

lay with me here 

we our own fortunes

fulfilling each other evermore”

 

i forsook any notion

concerning the primeval tree

and its exalted flower

i had embraced my lover

our bodies fusing

i welcomed my fate with widespread arms

as we transmuted into two trees

winding and entwining about one another

now part of the blissful chorus

we sang together as trees

two as one

lovers