“I see your mind,” hisses through the night.

“Who’s there?” I call my voice wavering

“I know what you are thinking,” whispers through the air.

“No you don’t,” I say unsure.

“I know how you feel,” the silky voice breathes.

“You can’t!” I yell spinning around, peering into the murky mist.

“Can you live with your choice knowing the cost?
The people you will hurt?”

My silence is greeted with a flash of light,
a reflective surface,
an image I know too well.

“Will you be able to look upon yourself with pride
when others see you with disdain?”

I turn away from those eyes filled with anger,
arrogance, and, to my disconcert
shame.

“I have done no wrong!” I growl defiantly.

“I see your mind and it is deceiving,” the voice slithers in the inky blackness.

“You lie!”

“Do I?”

Tense silence fills the air.

“Who are you?” I whispered fearfully.

“I am the one who will condemn without reservation,
who will haunt your waking dreams!” the voice booms.
“I am judge, jury.
Executioner!”

Wind whips around me,
past sins screaming for absolution,
beating at my already battered soul.
Covering my ears I try to run, but it is no use
for the voices follow,
unrelenting.

“You can run, but you can never hide,
for we will follow through the edges of time!
Speak now and right the wrong
or pay the price for a deed black as it is
cold.”

“Never!” I scream.
Fist clenched, feet apart,
I stand my ground,
the wind of past sins suddenly silent.
Conviction strong,
I raise my eyes and voice
to the heavens.
“If I must pay for returning that which was given freely,
then so be it.
My conscious is clear.”

“So be it.
The choice is made,
No turning back.
What once was whole
is now undone.
What once was love
now hate is strong.
May the Gods have mercy,
for the light within
is now gone.”

Poem Copyright 2015 Heidi Barnes