The Devil Lies Within

By Swati Singh

“You keep in the pain.

Keep in the trauma. Keep in the suffering.

Keep in the fear and the hate.

Even the devil remains kept inside.

Not trapped but trampled.

And then you wonder why when its claws finally rip through your heart,

You wonder why when its murky rage drips down your chest,

You wonder why when its nails bite into your skull,

You wonder why when its malice spreads through your lungs,

You wonder why as it stares you in the face,

Why is it your face that stares back at you, familiar yet

A smiling face you've never seen before.

You may find it repulsive, think it unreal,

A hallucination from your anxiety and fear,

But the devil within doesn't lie.

It is you, a you you buried alive…"

And with that, it had spoken, the reflection, spoken a truth,

A truth that left me staring, inside the depths of the devil,

Inside a me I wanted to erase.

A me that felt hate when it was insulted,

A me that felt rage when it was asked to compromise,

A me that felt terrified when abused.

A me that was willing to lie, to hurt, to destroy

Because it was a me that was alone.

By Swati Singh