Dystopian

By Emma Wells

Ravenous nesting lurks

in subterranean soil;

it bides its time. 

Patient for flesh, blood, life;

diminished strength is a foil,

shielding latent power. 

Yet to unleash...

Tunnelled nightmares

bury unknown;

they coil and weave

perimeters of life. 

A webbed labyrinth

of malevolence beats –

underlying potency. 

A need to dominate awaits. 

Spidery shadowed limbs rotate

as blackened mist:

a living dead stalks the vulnerable…

Its unseeing eyes sense all:

Omniscient. Omnipotent. Omnipresent. 

White debris encircles,

floats near the nuclei of toxicity:

flickers of the underworld.

Another world.

A torment.

A macabre heart beats steadily:

subtly gaining purpose,

a grittier steel…

Beat...

Drum...

Beat...

Riveted channels bubble..

frothing to fruition

spilling from a disturbed,

tenderised mind. 

A map of sinister routing -

Planned. Unchecked. Formed. 

Death lurks, dips its tongue

into listening eyes,

spying ears: 

purging humanity,

distorting senses. 

Its need is greater, towering, escaping — freely...

             Overpowering...

                                    ambitiously climbing...

Dystopia shimmers,

reflecting a mirrored underbelly –

realism intermixed

with darkened forms. 

A hybridity that leans —

towards sabotaging humankind…

Fragility hangs precariously...

Dystopian-brittle.

Emma is a mother and English teacher. She has poetry published with various literary journals and magazines. She enjoys writing flash fiction and short stories also. Her debut novel, Shelley’s Sisterhood, is due to be published in 2022.