RELATIONSHIP Poem: by Ainsley Heffern

Lighting strikes outside the
attic window where i sit,
Blinding me with its white light
as I ignore the commotion downstairs.

Alone with my waking nightmares
The haunting picture of you fills my mind
and the voices in my head scream
the same thing they do every night;

Wondering if I made a monster out of you
or if you were always that way.

If I had been a willing pawn in your
Chess game,
Sacrificed myself for the king,
Would I have been the only one you hurt?

Would i still be here now,
A mere skeleton
On these splintering wood panels
Had I never met you in the first place?
Never let you strip me of my skin
And use it as your own?

But no –
Wait.
In the cobwebs across from me.
A young girl.
Cracked and hollow
As a broken porcelain doll.

She looks up at me,
and does not utter a word.
But the look on her face
Has been on mine before.

Slapped on every time
You made me feel
Like I deserved nothing.

And I want to reach out to her-
But how can I?
When all we are to each other
Are mutual Jane Does.

And to you
We were nothing
But toys.

Suddenly,
There’s a bang
As you burst through the attic door
And back into my nightmare,

And I look up at you,
My twisted little Frankenstein,
As you point your bony, patchwork finger at me
And say
“You did this.”