Genie

(Writer's note: This poem was written after I watched the documentary, 'The Wild Child' for a psych class. It is a touching and true tale of a young feral girl who was I believe the most severe case of social/emotional isolation known at the time. She may still be. I won't go into detail on her graphic and emotional story here, as that is the intent of the poem, but if you are curious to learn more about her, you can start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie_(feral_child).

I should also point out that this poem is written with the same lyrical meter as Metallica's 'Fade To Black'. At the time, I was -even more so- obsessed with the band, and this song could not fit more perfectly into the mood I felt and that I wanted to convey as I wrote this piece.

For those of you familiar with the song, you'll quickly notice that there are twice as many stanzas as Metallica's song. That was not unintentional. Whether you want to look at this piece as two separate but equal pieces from different perspectives, that is totally appropriate, as the poem shifts from a third- to first-person perspective almost halfway through; however, a more accurate way to look at it would be to just consider it as a story that could not be told in the confines of 6 stanzas. Here is a link to an instrumental version of the song, if you'd like to play the music and replace Hetfield and Ulrich's lyrics with mine. For the second half of my poem, simply rewind and start again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pNaQmrUaZI)


One more soul born into sin,
made to live this life again
just as all of them before;
life is halted at this door.

These wicked antiquities
repeat all through history.
Human remorse at its end,
no righteous way to defend.

These things we do to ourselves
cut the ties to which we’re held.
Left alone all by myself;
no sympathy, beyond help.

Confinement swallowing me;
this cell, my mind – cannot flee.
They doubt I know anything -
if it’s real, if it’s a dream.

No respect they give, for there’s none to earn.
Their one rule was always simple to learn.

Locked in this room for ten eternal years,
left alone to face my demons and fears.

Living in the dark alone,
blackness to which I am prone.
This hollowed room, like my mind -
so foreboding, so unkind.

Forsaken to live this hell,
abandoned – no one to tell.
Is it worth this life at all?
Can I make it through it all?

Growing harsher deep inside
despite all my mind will try.
Keep me safe, keep me real
from the bitter cold I feel.

Savagely I grow up here.
Bright outside is all I fear
So much they’ve stolen from me:
a child’s life of normalcy.

When will they release me, let me be free?
When one ray of light and hope will I see?

I pray for a kind hand to touch me true.
Is this too much? Will sun ever shine through?