Poetry Slam

Again, in honor of Halloween, I have decided to post a poem I wrote a few months ago. I figured it had enough of an "Edgar Allen Poe" flavor to it to classify it as having a Halloween Vibe, so I've decided to post it here. I know many of you have already read this, but for those who haven't, let me know what you think, everyone. Anyone. Someone?

DOLL

From across my childhood room

now seated amidst silence and gloom

up the stairs and through the dim-lit hall

sits a familiar, yet ever-pristine doll.

Where once whimsical expression's worn

now gazes decrepit, aged, and torn.

My poor heart again starts to rend

for my former companion and bosom friend

I stumble ever closer and take pause,

for on the face where a smile once was

materializes a scowl; a cruel sneer

and eying me howls, “A stranger comes here!”

Taken aback, I grasp for a single word--

but I am choked by grief-- nothing is heard.

Your eyes are lifeless, yet penetrate me

Did you ever love me?

Or did you always hate me?

Did you hate me for holding you,

when I wanted so to be held?

Did you hate me for caressing you,

when I needed my demons dispel'd?

You wear a treacherous face now,

a cruelly stitched smile hides the truth,

behind that steel gate and an iron lock

is stowed away the hurt of my youth.

I reach out to remind you of our bond,

yet I am impeded by an ever-present wall,

where behind it will forever sit,

that cruel, deceitful... yet familiar doll.

As I stepped away from my childhood room

now seated amidst silence and gloom,

I call for someone, anyone, but find myself alone

and All useless: the voice, the letters, the phone

I look over the halls in which we played

to find the carpet torn, tattered and frayed;

the damage done to the ceiling and wall--

I wonder... is this my doing, or that of the doll?

-Kevin Neff