The Cleansing

I'm bound in a black dress
Laced with frill and feather.
I walk through the ashen woods
Through the mud and dirty weather.

I inhale the aroma of charcoal and dust
And walk slowly toward the center.
I look up into the sky; rain falls upon my cheek.
I gaze upon the ground; do I dare enter?

I feel the blood pulse through me,
Even drag itself from my skin.
Placing my mutilated foot in the water,
Should I let myself fall in?

I sink into this oblivion
And let myself go weak.
I'm surrounded by the darkest pleasure.
No way to scream out...impossible to speak

Feels like I'm being torn
From the inside out.
I feel my body cleansing.
I crawl, with no hesitation nor doubt.

Fingers through the mud
Dragging myself from the shadow.
My black dress turned to white,
My clothing set aglow.

I stand for the last time.
Cold wind flows through my hair.
Stare into the smothered sky
And weep my last tears of despair.

For once I feel so beautiful.
My skin so pale, so pure,
With such an attractive innocence,
An irresistible allure.

My tears turn to beauty
As I walk from what I've left behind.
No longer swamped in fear and anxiety.
No longer am I confined.

As I walk, I feel such freedom,
And with happiness, I am consumed.
Now eternally lost in ecstasy,
My deepest desires can now be abloom.