{"id":172,"date":"2025-04-16T23:29:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T23:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-2\/?page_id=172"},"modified":"2025-04-24T00:09:15","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T00:09:15","slug":"acherontic-abyss","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-2\/poetry\/acherontic-abyss\/","title":{"rendered":"Acherontic Abyss"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ayaan Fahad<\/span><\/p>\n

I open the windows,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Welcome the agonizing cold breeze-\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It blows\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Within my soul.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It casts spells on my mind,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shows beauty futile to my eyes\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For I have gone blind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I refuse colors,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Poisoning the lavender hyacinths\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On life\u2019s barren land.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I snatch a dagger\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And stab your pathetic helping hand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My fingers twist and break,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Refusing to write\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For my sanity\u2019s sake.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With my bruised palms I carve\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Each verse, a prayer for solace.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A saint worshiping words.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My mind: a labyrinth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I carve perplex pathways\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leading to chthonic depths;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A vexed abyss\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of an insufferable mind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I weave mosaics in lunacy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Seduced by insomnia\u2019s ecstasy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Starving in famine,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I bathe in sanguine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fragments don’t constitute poems,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Call not a heart a home,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Turn yours to stone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Flesh, Tears, Bone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Call not a heart your home\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You will turn to-\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Flesh, Tears, Bone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Turn to; my beloved graveyard,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tombstone.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cut warmth,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Weren\u2019t you born in fire?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Plead paradise,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A demise to unearthly desire.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A tantalizing glimpse.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Walk among shadows-\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The light will burn your skin,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Your crimson stained white linen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Spectre\u2019s entwine my soul.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I step deeper into the void,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fiat tenebris: dim the light,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Suffocate brains pleading paranoid.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dismal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I step deeper into the void,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I fall, paranoid.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ayaan Fahad I open the windows,\u00a0 Welcome the agonizing cold breeze-\u00a0 It blows\u00a0 Within my soul.\u00a0 \u00a0 It casts spells on my mind,\u00a0 Shows beauty futile to my eyes\u00a0\u00a0 For I have gone blind.\u00a0 I refuse colors,\u00a0 Poisoning the lavender hyacinths\u00a0 On life\u2019s barren land.\u00a0 I snatch a dagger\u00a0 And stab your pathetic helping… Continue Reading Acherontic Abyss<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":0,"parent":21,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_theme","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-172","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":251,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/172\/revisions\/251"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}