The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Watching the Murder of a Soul  
by Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi 

You flutter across my mind, and

what my eyes see is enthralling,

but your narcissistic behavior has

led me to a fork in the pines. Are you

.

authentic, golden, or are you hiding,

going to manipulate, quietly rip me

apart behind the scenes, behind my

eyes, would I ever be whole again, or

.

would I have to wander the streets of

my heart – wrenching, clenching in

confusion and unbridled pain?

.

Would I have to find you there and

tear your heart in two so it stops

beating with mine, turn my eyes into

.

your mind and search, grip tightly

your essence and citrus squeeze

you into pieces as you did me?

.

Would butterflies then grace my sight,

would their wings carry me to peace?

Would their beauty make me breathe

.

again, would it make me whole again,

would it let me sit and enjoy the flowers?

.

Would it let me live again carrying pain

but seeing the beauty of the world.

Can you only see the purest things

if you backpack the hurt and the murder?

Fiction © Copyright Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi
Fiction Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More about Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi:

Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi is an author, editor, journalist, and publicist with thirty years of experience in communication fields and Bachelor of Arts degrees in English, Journalism, and History.

Breathe. Breathe. was her debut collection of dark poetry and short stories in 2017. She has poetry and short stories published in several anthologies and online, and was co-editor of a half-fiction, half-poetry Gothic anthology. She’s currently compiling and writing several poetry collections, an essay collection, a short story collection, and a novel.

She is a chronic pain warrior, the mother of three humans and several spoiled rescue cats, and while born in England, now lives in a forest in Ohio while managing her editing, writing, and PR business.

Find Erin at her website Hook of a Book or on most social media platforms.