When the darkness conquered*

The day the darkness came
I was hidden under my bed
I knew
Somehow
What to do
How to speak
Where not to look
And what questions not to ask

The day the darkness came
They took my mother and father
Sister
My house
My whole life
But I hid away there
And they couldn't find me
No matter where they looked

The day the darkness came
That was the end of my perfect world
Perfection
No longer existed
I was in complete exile
Hiding from the shady figures
That haunted my every footstep
I would not, could not, join in their evil

The day the darkness came
And the acrid smoke blasted my face
I cried
Not for me
Not for my family
But for the whole blessed,
Sinking world that darkness
Had destroyed with their shadows

The day the darkness came
I screamed
And screamed
And screamed
And covered my ears so I would not hear their calling
So they wrenched my soul from within me
And left the empty shell of my body
In the gutter