Cast Down

So you’ve been cast down—

now the dark begins to breathe 

Don’t move 

Let the silence 

press its weight 

against your ribs 

Feel it circle 

skittering just beyond sight 

The whispers 

licking at your fear 

Sweat beads 

The air thickens 

The hairs on your neck 

salute the unseen 

You know it—

something worse than fate is coming 

Come forth 

My beautiful cruel thoughts 

Tease me when I am fallen 

Mock me when I am broken 

Punish me when I am too weak to burn

And you, my hellhounds 

darlings of the abyss 

rest beside your sisters 

Feast slow—

there’s always more meat in misery 

always another soul

that thought the fall would end the pain 

And I—

I will watch 

from the hollow 

between heartbeats 

where mercy rots 

and memory sleeps 

I am the quiet 

after the scream 

the shadow that stays

when even the dark has fled 

I will linger 

where the light once touched 

a shimmer caught 

between grief and grace 

I am the sigh beneath the thunder 

the tear the darkness cannot drink 

Once I was something pure—

now I am only what remains

when even hope forgets your name 

© Ron Simpson Jr

October 15, 2025