Original DDE™ surrealistic art: “Love’s Sin” by: rob kistner © 11/16/23
D o you think
you’re not still my slave
since digging yourself
from that earthen grave
since you sullied
your delicate hands
clawing up and out
of my bottom lands
do you think
you’re safe
think perhaps
that I don’t know
where you are
as you come and go
do you think
that I don’t feel you
with my every breath
that I don’t breathe you
do you not understand
that I hold your life
in my clenching hand
really – don’t you
do you think at all
foolish girl
anytime I want you
you are mine
anytime
you know I love you
you love me too
with a love uncommon
you know you do
don’t you
you are mine
it’s true
forever
you are not free
your every move
is known to me
your every thought
is mine to see
your every fear
mine to trigger
feel your terror
as it’s growing bigger
Original DDE™ surrealistic art: “Dark Love”
by: rob kistner © 11/16/23
I watch you walking
every dark late night
while I hide under
my dim street light
you will not know
whence I may come
I am the shadow
you are running from
the stranger hidden
across the street
the sudden sound
that startles you
from your sleep
so cling mindlessly
to your false hope
as ‘round your slender neck
my fingers grope
you think I’m mad
well that may be
but that’s too bad
for you
not me
you pray
they catch me
we’ll see
won’t we
your nightmare is
I’ll not be caught
well
that dream’s come true
for I will naught
Original DDE™ surrealistic art: “Dark Love’s Captive”
by: rob kistner © 11/16/23
you hope I make
a big mistake
dare a close call
risk my downfall
foolish girl
there is no risk
for I am brilliant
wicked cunning
you’ve felt my power
is it not stunning
does my magnificence
make you afraid
as staring in my eyes
you feel resistance fade
you will not see me
in the cold dark rain
but you feel me squirming
in your troubled brain
as I’m creeping quiet
from behind
to steal your mortal life
as I am so inclined
as terror shivers
up and down
your spine
remember always
you — are — mine
Original DDE™ surrealistic art: “Devil In A Downpour”
by: rob kistner © 11/16/23
*
rob kistner © 2021
edited rewrite © 2023
Poetry at: dVerse
Chilling!
As intended Rosemary…! I occasionally need to release my dark side, so my romantic and whimsical self can breathe.
You captured the disturbing voice of the narcissistic (and deluded) predator really well. I can see his mad expression as he speak these words to poor Catherine. Or, perhaps, I see it that way because in the TV show her terror was portrayed so clearly.
I’m with Rosemary, this is very chilling… and its tone definitely echoes its inspiration.
I got in this head space immediately after the last episode, and coupled with that picture at top, this piece showed up? Not at all where I normally go with poetry. My imagination is apparently still too damned vivid — and obviously, perhaps disturbingly, impressionable. Reading these words, I don’t recognize myself, snd strange that they came so easy, too easy. I need sleep Magaly.
I hope you got some sleep, Rob. I can see why that TV show brewed such dark poetry. I remember writing some rather disturbing words after I finished reading Exquisite Corpse, by Poppy Z. Brite.
Thank you Magaly, very much… 🙂 Insomnia has become my regular guest, best I try to manage it. Tough thing is, my health issues keep me quite sedentary, anc that doesn’t promote sleep.
Terrifying! Glad I didn’t read it just before bed.
Actually, the poem is progressively chilling, and wonderfully written.
Thank you Sara, I know it’s not everyone’s fare, but was inspired by “Clarice” and wanted to see if I could do a chiller thriller. It is strange to crawl inside the mind of a psychopathic marderer.
Well, that was utterly horrifying and chilling! You really dive into the mind of the narcissist, the abuser, the psychopath, and the killer. They can be separate or one and the same. So many different aspects to a person, you never truly know them at all until it’s too late. This made my heart speed up a little especially since these horrors happen much too often in real life. Very well-written.
When I first considered journeying this dark in my poetry Lucy, to see if I could approach creating the grip of a program like “Clarice”, or Thomas Harris’s powerful novel “Silence of the Lambs” which spawned it — I became unsettled. When I found I was able to plumb that deep into the madness of this character, I was kinda surprised, and perhaps a bit concerned. But now that it is finished, and I am satisfied with the final outcome, I can now embrace that it is simply dark poetic fiction — it’s my work, not me. This was a challenge, and I’ll likely not go back that deep again — but I do not regret this endeavor, as a one time experience. And thank you Lucy.
I very much want to see that show. Thank you for this (so creepy) reminder. Excellent piece.
Thank you Shawna! Clarice is the unexpected — quality in a mostly shallow world of “TV” programming.
We don’t have Hulu or Netflix anymore, nor am I ever able to watch anything live, so I’m basically only watching one show these days—The Good Doctor. I was very into Produgal Son and Empire, but then Covid … and now no Hulu, so …
Well that sucks!
Very creepy, not for the faint of heart. I’m really enjoying CLARICE, which might be too dark for CBS, as EVIL was, which is now streaming. You play with us some, letting your rhyme scheme lighten up the vibe, mantling the lethality. Like robot cops saying” Open the door. We mean you no harm”, in THX1138
Glad this worked for you Glenn. I am stunned “Clarice” is on network TV. Love you final sentence here, made me smile.
The voice of a narcissistic predator excellently executed.
Thank you Shirley, I have heard that voice in my past.
you will not know
whence I may come
I am the shadow
you are running from
Love this Rob! It creates relief for those suitors who are forever trying hard. Reminds one of the positive assertions of ‘no venture no gain’
Hank
Glad you liked this Hank
OBSESSION. Well captured …. my son is a Clarice fan, records it. I may have to take a peek. Do you think I can handle it?
Yes, your sense of humor and perspective seems grounded to me Helen — but what do I know for certain?
Rob you brought me back to when I read Silence of the Lambs as young adult and how terrifying the lair of beast was. Seeing the movie was a let-down as no director can heighten fear as much as one’s imagination. Maniacs like this are out there that’s why you always have to be on your guard.
Movies of good books seem always to be a disappointment Lisa. A movie can get inside your head, just not as deeply as a book… imho
Super psychological-thriller chilling. The line that got my shivers going, “The shadow you are running from.” Eek. Eek. Well-done.
Thank you K. Yes, when that line popped into my head I got a bit of a chill — so I felt that whole 4-line verse worked.
Darkly daring and devilishly well done, Rob!
Thank uou Ingrid. I am going to write a bit more both SciFi and psych-thriller poetry because I gond I enjoy going deep into action-fiction.
In your reply to another comment you said, “Reading these words, I don’t recognize myself, and strange that they came so easy, too easy.” Something needed to come out, and it did, masterfully.
Thank you Ron. This show “Clarice” had me wondering, more like a personal curiosity/challenge — could I write something like that. Now I know and it’s all good… 🙂
Creepily ominous. You’ve created a great voice, although not one I would personally want to be acquainted with!
Thank you Kerfe — nor I…!
I really liked this and the terror it inspires. Good inspiration music you included.
Thanks TJ.
The stalker, the dangerous lover, the vampire slayer… all in one so creepy as it seems like the narrator enjoys to torture his victim.
Gulp, I know Bjorn — and I wrote it.
Well damn, Rob, this was absolutely evil. It was obvious you warmed to the task, reminding your terrified victim she was YOURS! Next you’ll be screen writing for Clarice!
Don’t know if I could Bev. Writing this proved to me that I either don’t truly know who I am,yet, or I am just a mirror man — which is more unsettling to consider. 😐
This is deliciously dark- it’s definitely dangerous dealing with an obsessive lover .. a risk not worth taking. ????
Thank you Sanaa, snd I think not.
You captured the essence of the show.
Yes ken. Don’t know how I feel about that? 😐
Doesn’t work for me as poetry, which I never take as fiction. Narrative sometimes but always prophecy. So beware. Change of form? Put it in a screenplay or creepy goth song.
Thank you for sharing that Brendan. It is poetry to me, unorthodox perhaps, but it was approached snd executed as poetry. I dig Poe, so I was a bit in that mindset, inspired by “Clarice” — and calling on my dark side.
Shivers went down my spine! The way it flows in short stanzas is powerful and puts us in his head. It’s a risk to write something different but very memorable and I applaud you for your creativity!
Thanks Tricia,:) it was a thing I had to do, yo see if I could. Now it’s done.
It’s fun experimenting!
Yes it is Tricia.
Chilling for me but so darkly passionate and intense with the conversations. You have painted the character so well.
Thank you Grace. Just experimenting. 🙂
uh, yeah. disturbing would describe the first batter in the first inning – and you went into extras ~
Bottom of 9th. Two men on, two outs, two strikes, down 2 runs…
Absolutely terrifying, but I couldn’t look away…
Thank you so much Kate!
The evil arrogance of this first person account made my gut squirm.
Glad it moved you Sean…
Well this is definitely your dark side! WOW….frightening words and frightening illustrations! Powerful — visceral — could be the main premise of a horror movie or at the very least, a very very disturbing drama.
Purging my dark, angry side Lil. It is the only way I can write poems like last Wednesday’s “Walk With Me”. It’s my way of screaming inside my head, and sometimes I need to scream my friend.
Definitely dark, as advised by you, and chilling too, because sadly I think many have heard / felt this in today’s world. Also, the narrative of the poem really vividly, in my opinion, depicts that sometimes leaving and being safe does not mean that everything is over – and words, much like in your poem, linger in the head for years, at times.
I am pleased this resonated for you Oloriel. Safety in today’s world is only an illusion, and only for as long as the real world truth doesn’t burst one’s fantasy bubble. Knowing and accepting that, is the best way to truly remain alert and safe. And in that same light, not letting that reality control you is the best way to be free snd happy. IMHO
Chilling, Rob! Much different from the one you read today! 🙂
Purging my darkness Merril… 🙂
Chilling stuff! You captured the predator so vividly.
Thank you Di. I wanted the darkness to glare… 😐
This is frightening. Imagined being pursued by a stalker like this. Really dark but good stuff. I like how the narrator believes she loves him back. Certainty delusional, dark love.
An amoral sociopathic psychopath OP — like Donald Trump. Glad this made you feel the plight of this poor woman. Sadly, for too many, this is not fiction… 🙁
A chiller and a thriller Rob!
Thank you James. 🙂 If only this type of mad cruelty were only fiction.
Brave to plumb these depths Rob, but I guess it proves that our imagination can take us into any personal, however dark – which in turn proves our empathetic humanity. It is only these dark creatures who cannot empathise with their victims and this is part of a long tradition of telling cautionary tales of the dark…
Darkness was birthed in me as the result of the situations I encountered as a younger child, after coming into this world as an abandoned orphan. I purge it time to time via writing.
A dark and chilling write, Rob! There are so many people like this these days.
Hope it held you with a few goosebumps Sanaa… 🙂
Scary, especially to someone who has been stalked.
I apologize if I upset you Kim. I’ve been many years an E. A. Poe admirer. I am drawn to it for the tension. The sociopathic/psychopathic mind fascinates me, because it is so foreign from my genuine heart. Writing it disables the personal horror for me. Makes me feel I can tame that kind of madness, so I don’t fear it — I feel control over my own lesser darkness.
Okay, I admit I wasn’t expecting that today! Chillingly dark, my friend…
It rattles around in my head True, it’s my E. A. Poe persona — gotta purge it sometimes. Sorry if I spooked ya my friend. Only fiction… 🙂
I was just gonna say it reminds of Moon over Bourbon Street… and yes you had it right there.
It felt unavoidable Björn… 🙂