Stygian Stars

"Stygian Stars"

He found himself 

in the place 

where the black stars hang, 

so far beyond 

the comprehension 

of what our minds 

can claim, 

a supreme madness 

so invariably consuming 

to the sensitive fleshy souls 

of humans 

that there is no returning 

to any part 

that was you 

that existed before

the descent into insanity,

was it Hell, 

for he did not know, 

the only thing that was certain 

was the sensation 

of his mind flaying 

under the slicing pressure 

of this place,

an insufferable pain 

gripped his sanity 

as he witnessed things 

words cannot explain,

even if he could understand 

he could never know 

what was happening, 

had he died, 

was he alive,

why was he swimming 

in the black seas of infinity,

time was fluid here, 

he could feel every moment 

of his life being 

excruciatingly stripped away, 

layer by layer, 

detail by detail, 

inch by inch, 

everything he had ever done, 

every lie he had ever said, 

every joy he ever felt, 

ripped away from him 

as each second 

felt like a thousand years,

each memory happening 

over and over until 

it was too precious 

to give up 

before being torn away 

like tufts of hair 

being torn away 

from his scalp,

And after thousands upon thousands 

of years have passed 

no part of him was human 

any longer, 

he had been stripped and flayed 

and gone through a process of transformation 

leaving him beyond 

our comprehension 

in that place where the black stars hang.

-Armando Torres