AFFLICTION

My name
Is Regret

I’m the slickest

Trickiest

Manipulator alive

You think I reside in a space and time

Separate from you

But ohhh, silly rabbit

Didn’t I just say I was the trickiest?

And I ain’t just for kids

My game is tight

I run it on all of you:

Women and men

Boys and girls

I don’t discriminate

My job is to wreak as much havoc

On your psyche

As many times a day

As I can

See, I live in the backyard

Of the intuition you refuse to heed

Where I buoyantly wait

For your train-wreck decisions to play out

Like a string of box-office flops

I’m always packed and ready

To make my ascent

To the height of your emotions

Pitch my tent

Camp out in your cognizance

Hike the trails of your thoughts

Hunt for the frailest of them

Lie in wait …

Then pray

I pray so hard

For you to second-guess yourself

Give in to the pressures of people

And life

And slip into the abyss of situations

That will be the death of your sanity

I bank on you being steeped

Chin deep

In your insecurities

Depleted self-esteem

And lack of faith in your ability

To navigate your storms

Like the uncontrollable force

Of quicksand—

Your financial fears

Need for acceptance and love

Craving for material things

That you mistakenly rely on for joy—

They squeeze you breathless

Sink you

Into a state of panic

Where you can't picture

A healthy way forward

Where you believe you have no choice

But to surrender to inferior options

I'll cheer as you tumble
Down the dark hole

Of sleepless nights

Random outbursts of unruly sobbing

Churning-stomach syndrome

Fear of retaliation

Longing for second chances

Mental and physical tumult—

OH!—

The thought

Of your constant misery

Self-hatred

And endless discomfort

Makes my glands all waterfall

Has me salivating

Like a ravenous wolf

Fangs bared

Anticipation dripping from my tongue

Like fresh tree sap

(((shiver)))

I can

Taste

Every drop

Of the remorse that will hemorrhage

Through the bitter tears

Whose streaks will tattoo your cheeks

In the boldest font

So that every time you look in the mirror

You will be forced

To remember the scenarios you chose

That backfired
The times you cocked your mouth
Emptied its chamber
And annihilated people
With words you can't take back

How you betrayed yourself

Forfeited your happiness

Repeatedly

Cuz cowardice is your addiction

The crack in your brain’s pipeline

Decomposing your faculties

And I will roar in amusement

Beat my chest with arrogance

Revel in the ease of my accomplishment

In the depth of your weakness

Then I will

Smugly make my way

Back to the yard

Where I will kick my feet up

And slumber peacefully

Delighted that your life

Has yet again

Reached a new level

Of inescapable hell

©2016 Charlene E. Green