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From The Afterglow

Verses, Tales, Thoughts

by Varsha Panikar


Paranoia strikes in the hearts of everyone. We put it all on the line simply because we can. The past is bittersweet and the future seems so terribly grim. The light that’s inside us, has gone so desperately dim. So what do we do? We waste and kill ourselves, with our eyes fixed on the moon, and all we can think about is our impending doom so let’s go down together, down that rabbit hole, into the world of insanity, and stop worrying about your decaying vanity.

It’s the things that we never say that truly get in the way. Those unspoken truths could serve as tiny proofs that someone’s existence had meaning and that the light they radiate is still glowing somewhere in our hearts. However, our lips stay locked in a tight seal, so they'll never know how we truly feel. And so, days go by, and nights are never-ending. We continue to rely on our broken pieces to help our hearts from mending, looking at pictures tainted with all the actions and memories—memories that tend to lie.


Yet, we keep trying to find truth in all that is unsaid. Fragmented reflections display confusion inside the head, searching deep for clarity in all that’s dead and unheard. Desperate to draw conclusions that set the soul free from relentless dread because words unsaid reveal a lot, and they can lie. We create what we need to in order to get by. But what happens when life takes a turn for the worse and quickly goes? Suddenly, everything can change to what you feared and never imagined you’d have to know.


We beat ourselves up, begging for that one little moment to say, “I love you”, "I miss you", "I'm sorry", one last time, to make sure they know it. Yet, when that moment stares us right in our faces, we stay silent once again, and nothing ever changes the way we feel. So how do you ever fix a heart that has been broken from the crushing weight of words that were never spoken? Because words can cut deep and leave scars for life, unlike the chance of recovery from the damage of a knife. They can lift a heavy heart or brighten a dark day. They can heal and inspire with the meaning they convey.


There’s power in words and in silence. Both tend to torture when they leave their mark inside us. And still, it’s easy to forget that words we never hear or say are sometimes truly the ones that get in the way.

A gothic and mystical graphic novel about the journey of a young girl into a magical and ancient forest, inspired by fables, folklore, fairy-tales, myths, and dreams. Seeking writers, graphic designers and visual artists to collaborate on the book. An ongoing poetry series. Here is a preview.



She goes into the forest

forest of dread and sorrow

sorrow all around

around her animals hurry

hurry in all directions

directions that are blocked

blocked with vines and branches

branches sticking out out of many trees trees that are endlessly tall

tall yet, rising higher

higher till the sky is gone

gone from my view view that is closing

closing the deeper she goes

she goes into the forest


 

Forest, thy shadow thy door where in sorrow sadly rot

amongst the things we know no more

with winds of silent thought



 

The trees alone were exquisite they tangled so divine sadly though, she could barely fit when she tried to squeeze through the vines



 

She could hear the silent shrieks of fear, deep within the forest.



 

Nowhere to go but deep within her forest

curled up in a deep dark tree

hidden within the strangling branches

she hides from the monster afraid, shaking trembling with fear!

the encroaching noises are not around her they are inside of her no longer contained

burning within her twisted forest

her dark wicked twisted forest



 

The trees replied, “night will be the hour the forest will speak.



 

The ground did warn us “the underworld howls through the cracks of earth” they said



 

She continues to run her brown tangled hair flies as she sprints as she pushes through the pain that it takes to run away to safety

she roams through the forest of darkness

where evil does lie step after step

memories of this place

hover atop my mind

where young souls have died

my young soul has cried



 

She sits by the path of crossroads

with her head in her hand eyes half closed she can feel It look right through her

in despair and pain

she’d like to be left alone

right now



 

She notices the trees creek as they released their brown leaves to the wind.

a petal drift through the air into her tear soaked hand and screams,

"Forget me not!”



 

It felt like dreams shattering

like glass on the forest floor

she felt a presence the wind fell silent and an ominous air filled this place



 

As she was forced to depart

she nearly distinguished

from the shadowy depths

a smile



 

The shadows.... she doesn’t let them close

for the fear they might break her but still they collect her

and to the heartbreak take her


They found her unconscious

severely wounded a few broken ribs she was rapidly bleeding out

when they rescued her


The shadows

they embrace her they don’t surround her

deep in the forest

right where they found her


Moving on the battlefield the shadows they stand beside her Fighting so they can tame the madness inside her



 

But a last whisper met her ears

“i am so sorry, my dear you must awaken.” she opens her eyes a blink from oblivion pulling the breath from her lungs

thinks “that emptiness beyond the facade is this what awaits me?”



 

She runs up the empty foothills

faster than sound like she’s left her body

soul speeding wind howling she runs lugging her stripped wing

of its clouded feathers



 

Her pain is like a comfort

a blanket over her skin



 

So she wandered deeper into the forest

to the big rocky mountain.

eventually she came to rest by the cascading fountain. in it’s clear and crystal waters

she saw an angel looking back at her. with a rainbow row of flowers

placed within her silver hair.

it glimmered like the moon on a starless night.

but as she turned around

the angel was gone she was nowhere to be found

somewhere.... trees were falling down but they never made a sound



 

Peering at her own

young corpse as it rots besides

these trees these sneaky bumble bees view the evil that’s done out there

where some never make it out

that wretched place

her footsteps get faster

pounding the floor like plaster

though she hardly remember

why she came here at all

maybe to just mourn for her life’s so torn apart

her sweet loving self did die and still

somehow she sees light

so glorious so bright!



 

Fear of the sorrowful forest

finally overthrown she felt a presence

profound



 

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