Halls of the Dark Muse

Nevermore

Why do you burn through me
searing through my soul
hot and cold
relentless

With no escape
gasping for breath
my mind starting to spin
out of control

By degrees
breaking,
what are you
more than a figment
less than a human
a ghost
not living
nor dead

But a constant
a battle to be fought
against only phantoms
with no end,
only brisk moments
of peace in the moonlight

What am I
twisting at the end
of your noose
yet refusing
to relent

Impaled
by shadows
of memory
but still here,
still breathing
living in spite of you
and always purging
your poisons from
my system