Spiral Stairs

By Karun Balarajan

Stairs. 

So many stairs below. 

They are all down there.

All the way down to a realm

Where no light dares to trespass.

A man has to be free from the

Tower. 

He wanted to see the world

Outside him. 

The grass. He wanted to touch it.

The sand. He wanted to feel it. 

The fresh air. He wanted to inhale it

And savour it. 

“I shall be free from this lighthouse.”

He said to himself as he started going

Down the stairs.

Going down, going down. 

With his feet slamming against

Each stair, emitting an audible

Echo. 

He kept running down the stairs. 

With no light visible in his eyes. 

No sign of any entrance.

No hole emitting 

The spiral stairs never stop. 

The echoes of the footstep

Spread throughout the 

Void, with silence as 

A cruel and apathetic response. 

The boy sweats as he completed

His thousandth step. With no

Sign of exit down there. 

Was he trapped by the

Gods of the void that

Act upon their instincts 

Which are still incomprehensible to mere humans?

The void never wants you to leave.

The void wants you to stay in its

Black and swirly fabric. 

The void never wants you to leave.

The void never wants you to leave.

The void never wants you to leave.

By Karun Balarajan