alone

The sudden clatter of its doorway bells, gave a startling shake

To the settled dust, suffocating this dank and eerily quaint shop,

Only lit, by its multitude of ominous aquariums, littered with floating ghostly shadows

Cast, onto the patron’s face as they stand, mesmerized, by their haunting dance,

Unsure of what the glass tubes house, they enter, feeling the shift in space

As if they’re walking towards the current, forcibly pushing

While leading them further, into the darkly kept dwelling of the strange,

To the wandering eye, this shop might trip into glance,

Failing to capture intrigue, warded by way of a thick layer of neglect

Upon the untouched trinkets that possess a hint, of grotesque,

Gouged eyes, nestled within a tattered doll’s stomach, while holding a noose,

Sunken, to the bottom of the tallest tank, set to illuminate

The doll… and its other inhabitants, as they slither along the expansive tube,

Slicing in and through the fluffed entrails of the ornamental doll, picking apart its recent kill,

While the patron’s eyes are fixed, and show a curious admiration, for what lies amongst the forgotten

Scattered rubble of marinating organs, hideous demon masks and random deformities,

They hesitate to dive further, suddenly consumed by an uneasy feeling, of a stalking radiance,

Could it be the unearthly bust, depicting a deathly deity, framed by its flowing tentacles,

Or the collection of faceless burlap dolls, all sitting at attention,

But drawing them in closer, was the persistent hum,

They searched for the one who curated this collection of oddities,

Craning their sight over the stacked murky tanks,

Losing themselves further into the labyrinth, squeezing past all its devilish splatter

And finally making it to the counter, with its own, auspicious tank, and the steward

Staring down his intrusive patron, while clicking his sharp, crusty, nails,

Echoing them off the stressed podium, sending out waves of an icy twinge,

“Welcome, young sir, you look lost, did you truly mean to enter my shop?”

His last syllable popped, like an explosion of a fully expanded balloon from a sharp tiny, prick,

Almost offended by this intrusion upon his place of business, which begged, for attention

As the suffocating vacancies haunt the destitution of the aquarium,

And while his piercing glare stunted the patron’s procession, he demanded,

“Well… Approach my bench with whatever you’re totting under that trench.”

While never breaking his transfixed survey, they ascended, tentatively,

And slowly uncovered a white rectangular box and solemnly resting it upon the altar,

Still feeling the radiation of his gaze, ignoring the slow drooping salve in the shopkeepers’ ogle,

They finally broke their silence, easing off of their own stifle,

“I wish I could say it was the vanity of your shop that drew me in, but it was by word.”

A stale silence engorged, within the tension of their occupied space

Until a furious explosion from the quirky merchant…

“I stay shrouded until needed, and by your stance, and this bleak capsule

Presented in such dismay, to my auspicious deliberation,

Blasting! In through my quaint shop, alive simply on referral,

Unapparent, the moment the heart within this box fails to be relevant…..”

Paralyzed, in a recollection from placing his hand upon the recently departed

And then taking a deep breath, inhaling the aura of the grim, yet somber container,

“Although…. I may be able to devour your suffering, and supress

The devastation by way of having what was entwined within you, ripped apart,

At the stem, so the memories can pleasantly haunt, instead of giving a crushing finale.”

“So what I was told, incidentally, happens to be of merit

That you’re to ingest my  emptiness, that has suffocated me, within this existing torment?”

“Not exactly I, but my spirit non the less- did you express your appearance here within my invoked heart, is by error?”

Sunken into his chest was a shade of disbelief, as those words caved his momentum,

“I happened to be within a barely audible range, when I overheard about your bizarre services,

What I had believed to be the absence of direction, had in fact found my scent

Drawing me onto the whispered path, familiar, yet shadows of secracy exist,

For while doubting your existence, I stumbled upon your elusive illustration,

Baffled by its unusual appearance, I remain in battle with it’s presence

Yet here I stand, subservient to your merciful obliteration, to bring forth a chapter in my prose.”

“You may bear knowledge of my curious presence, but beyond my services

For I’m more curious about what lies beyond your, closet door, so may I excavate your orbital tunnels?”

The hum of all the aquariums were nevermore evident, than within the sudden silence

Following that cryptic collection of utterances, that echoed out, requiring reply,

But they were stifled by fright, from display of his widely stretched grin,

Yet the curiosity of his odd proposal led them to respond by asking, “How do we begin?”

~~

The next morning, ferrying a captured memory, they pensively entered the shop,

Noticing, the first expansive tube now housed, a small slithering shadow

And only a small pile of tattered cloth, were they the remains from a recent devour?…

While their steadfast approach to the fated podium never fully wavered,

They stared into the fractured window, thick webs entangled within their reflection,

An entire weave, of cogitation spiraled out from the eternal darkness of their crowded mind,

They blindly felt for salvation, eclipsed over, rusted shut, left alone on the wasted shore,

Yet a soft corrupted whisper slithered along the nape of the casket, seducing a faint pulse

As the drum of their approach had suddenly halted, from sight beyond their surveillance,

The obscurity-tender’s sudden obstruction, upon the visitor’s scrutinous order,

While entrancing the stale wind back into its stone basket,

A veiled force, easing their firmly tensioned coiled grip around their sight,

As the proprietor slunk out to curtsy in acknowledgement of their returning patron,

“To my delight, you brought what I asked in great haste

For this shall be a nefarious treatment, one I’m eager to embark.”

His grin possessed a hint of deviousness, snuffed down by his furthering remarks,

“There is evil within memories, these tubes, help guide them out so that I may harvest,

While baracading their incessant returns, uninvited, and intrusive,

But to know exactly what needs to be extracted, we must plunge through the depths of your erosion,

With no way to really prepare you…” He twists away his upper body, facing the tube,

“Injections of such alien matters, may have some odd reactions to the environment you present.”

“…you mean to disclose a warning?! That this procedure could mean, my death?”

Deeply sighing through his question, “Your pain stamina will hold up the bridge,

No way to explain what can occur during this intrusive probe,

Hush your concern and calm your nerves, my presence shall guide you through the beyond,

Now, step to the podium to speak of terms.” Continuing to contour,

Pulling his arm away from the tube, directing his acquired patient,

And without further clarity, their approach had been concluded upon placing down the photo,

Their agony, once only possessing warmth, now swings the creaking pendulum,

Entrapment, as he dives into gaze beyond sweet remembrances of companionship,

Tight, as death pulls on those frayed strings of the departed

And chokes the one left to mourn, drowning in their icy clutches,

As a sudden ferocious crash of the grinning salesman’s palm, onto the photograph,

Shakes them loose as the image is encapsulated, living as a new etching upon the podium,

Attempting to lead their hand towards it, the erratic patient snatched it back,

Cradled against their chest, fearing what sinister intentions he meant to administer,

“You must let me guide you towards the grooves of those ember grains

Find the path they create, traverse across, inside your grand hall,

Bestowed upon your sight, as the ferried guide, unbeknownst to you within your cloud.”

They slowly loosened their defenses, releasing the looming mistrust,

Gazing out into the horizon, finding themselves abruptly abroad,

Frozen in fear, they lightly tilted their view below, towards a shoreline,

Pebbles, wrestling below their feet as they nestle down below the crash of a wave,

They were no longer in the shop, they couldn’t grasp ground over where they existed

As they settled into a crouch, peering into the hazy void,

Noticing a faint light, wobbling closer, slinking out into clairvoyance,

Angering the dormant hull, realizing the soft tatter of the pebbles, now a tremor,

A growl expanding higher, as does the cloud, cresting into view,

The dense haze Birthing the shopkeeper, as he glides along the curdling of the jagged current,

Encouraging his Steadfast approach to the perched manic impression,

Embracing his patron within his gaze, he broke through, into their palace,

“Quite the furious entanglement that plagues your escape,

Although, this has the potential of immortal elegance, levitate beyond the hollow hush,

I require you, exposed, don’t lock up, a shop must always stay accessible to their patrons,

Now, allow me to surf along your aisles to browse your mind.”

The grumble grows louder, expanding over itself as the tremors start to splinter the glass,

“LET ME IN!”,  bellowed from deep within the cavernous keep,

Encumbered at the gate, entangled by intrusive clanks from it’s shackles

Hitting hard against the hollow dormancy, where the echo pools,

“LET ME IN!!”, the barrier swallowed whole by his demand,

Transcending their separation, the ferryman, guided beneath stubbornness, dove

Between the shroud and rose in through the splinter in the twined chain weave,

A soft echo emerging within them, finding themselves in absence,

Staring at the familiar ghost, being ferried to the heart of the oblong cased shopkeeper,

Reaching over the tidal push, clinging, to their shared anchor,

Squeezing onto its rickety choke, being ushered outward, stretching, blending with the horizon,

“Fin, to our contracted connection.” They were left upon their island,

Peering out, watching the shopkeeper take a proper, ovational bow,

Opening the land of ranges, and receding the suffocating ocean depths,

~~~

A blurry white, as their eyes fluttered awake, but it was a familiar popcorn ceiling,

They were in their bed, in their room, in the warmth of their domain,

A soft glimmer peeked in, nudging, for attention beyond the blackout curtains,

But something felt out of tilt, within their own cognition, and without precise certainty,

Slowly pried themselves up, crouched over and cradled their percussive hulking awareness,

Ill-equipped to face the labors of the day, they soldiered the forge, for normalcy,

Consumed by collating standard lines, framed by tall padded walls of their cube,

Oblivious to the compatriot, calling for attention at its only escape,

Shaken from the submerged rabbit hole, and dragged back, from their sudden syncope,

“I recognize the delirium, but I don’t recall why, were you a visitor to some crusty shop

Hidden, in plain sight, that promised relief to a crippling grief?”

“My location had eluded me, until you ignited a spark, when you said crusty,

Nails, sharp, tapping finely atop his stage, faintly lit stage left, his pet,

And they STOLE…”, mouth gaping, confused in the emptiness of memory, and just chuckled,

As did the compatriot, and they moved on about the labors of the day.

Around the far corner, and down the hall, across to the other side of the building,

Another grief stricken soul, peaked in, and heard their conversation.

~~~~

“For a successful business such as mine, you should have a deep pocket of coveted referrals,

They come to eradicate the weight, pressuring their grief throughout their mind,

They come to me, for my unforgiving closure, and newfound bliss,

For side effects from services may include short term memory displacement, everlasting,

Only seen by those dawning, a similar hooded cloak, entrapped in their festering grief,

Haunting the moments left to recall the ghost, walking in with it on their shoulders,

Payment due by way of all those clingy poltergeists, food, for my aquarium,

And a small, but generous fee for me, the shopkeeper,

Now, excuse me, my bell has just rung, time to put on my grin.”