Decrepit house
Shattered windows, peeling paint
Rotted boards
Horrific and beautiful

For the seed of love was planted and sown
Within these flimsy walls
And love sprouted, and love has grown
Turning old corridors to hallowed halls

And here we lived
For centuries
Together
Forever, it seemed

Until the day,
The fateful day
That took my love away
From me

An orange beast, with flaming eyes
Did rear its ugly head
And strangled my dear darling love
Until she was dead!

I ran to her side
As I wept, the beast engulfed the house, our home
Blackening walls, burning the floorboards
I narrowly escaped with her in my arms

By night, the glittering monster
Swallowed my home
Leaving nothing behind, the bloated beast
I sat, weeping, alone

And then I awoke
From a nightmare realized

'Tis my fault and my fault alone
Had I been with my love the night of her demise,
Would she still be alive?

She'd left me
I'd allowed her
But why?

Was fate so cruel to allow me no chance,
No chance to rescue my love,
To again hold her safely in my arms,
To stroke her hair, to receive her adoration

If I had only been there to save her...
I should have been there to save her...

How can I live knowing I've let my darling die?

This place--cramped, yet so empty

...Clothing strewn across the old, stained furniture...
...Rotting fruit, decomposing in a dull, chipped grave...
...A crumpled newspaper from the week before...
...Stacked in the corner with its brothers, in dusty embrace...
...Shattered glass from a broken bottle...
...Amber liquor, its lifeblood, lying stagnant on the floor...
...My eyes wander to the window...
...In the gutter, a dead dog lies...

...Bums are sleeping to its right...
...Using hole-filled umbrellas as makeshift shelter...
...They block nothing; frost covers the frozen men...
...Withered woman, gingerly creeps past it...
...Her eyes are wet, her face pale...
...A hat, worn from years of use, is perched atop her head...
...The flowers upon it are cellophane; still, they wilt...
...Clusters of dilapidated buildings line the streets...
...Architectural corpses, shells of homes...
...Nothing stirs, save for the old woman...
...Inching along the filthy, icy road, struggling as she goes...
...Drying her eyes with the sleeve of her coat, the woman grips her cane and presses on...
...Over the dog and bums, conquering her weakness...

...Now, my eyes float back to my own "home"...
...Observing the decadence, the extreme degradation...
...The corpse among corpses; resting in the cemetery of society...
...Her presence was life, the soul of the city...
...It is darkness; I am cold and alone...
...Nothing can stop the creeping solidarity...
...Gone is serenity; doomed is humanity...

In my room.

Malevolent witch!
Destroyer of love!
Bringer of woe!

...Is she?

...Yes!
Grotesque, pusillanimous blob!
Subhuman, foulest of foul
Quivering lump of vile jelly!

But... really?

Yes! Yes...!

...No!

What have I set out to prove?
Who need I fool?
Scorn will not bring her back!
Love will not bring her back!
Desire, hatred, she will have none of it!

I have lost her forever.
Is she Iscariot... or am I?

...What have I done?