Mary E-A. K. Remaniak Poetry

Imprisoned underground to all invisible,
Bound by unseen chains
That cut and bind into skin
Leaving bright red marks on the pale flesh.
Backed against the cold stone,
She asked for this torture
By every word, by every action.
She wanted to be punished...
And now she is reaping the benefits
More fully than she had ever dreamed.
Slashed into oblivion then awakened by the light,
Freezing rain pelts her face
As she struggles against the ropes to stand.
Her tormenter...one she loved and trusted...
Holds the keys to her life...to her chains...to this prison.
A crack across the face
And a small crimson stream no thicker
Than the eyeliner she once painted on
To hide her imperfections
Begins to flow from the shaped brows.
Another blow and another stream
Comes from the ruby opening
That asked for this...not knowing what would happen.
She sinks into the blessed dark
Of unconscious bliss
And sleeps for once unblighted by her nightmares.
Awakened by a blow to her stomach
And another...and another....she cries out
But it does not stop...it cannot be undone...
Streams flow onto the grey concrete
On which she has fallen...only held up by the ropes
That turn her hands blue with numbness.
A scarlet flood is released from the depths of her being
As the blows continue to rain down....
A flood released through the ruby gates
Where before only a small stream was seen.
Finally empty, she is left alone...
With water rising....this is the end of what she knew...
But there in the darkness....at her weakest moment...
The paint mixed with her blood to form a symbol
That gave her courage as it formed into reality.
She breathed in air and for the first time
Saw herself as she really was.....
Her own tormenter....had not been another.
In this place of banishment and death,
She was given another chance.

Poet: Mary E-A. K. Remaniak