We are many and we are one.
We live beneath the earth ‘til it comes undone,
the dead among us you feast upon
but wait little one, your time will come when you are beneath us and we shall rise
in your flesh we shall creep, to suck out every last drop of meat
behind your eyes. We shall flourish and take all that will nourish.
Bones are our home as we bring you down so we may rise and create and breathe.
We climb, we rhyme, we take your traits as we digest
we are many and you are few, yet your hands choke our brothers and tear at our sisters
marching feet in caterpillar train, twist and shape and crunch and mash.
We grow many and you grow few
a cycle as broken as our hearts,
twist in your screws and weld your steel,
but we will see this cycle through,
‘til it breaks as your world starts to quake,
when all is said and all is done
your world will be the desolation we rebirth.
Renew the cycle, renew the light, renew all of you.
You will not see it and you should cry your thanks,
for we have seen our fall as you never shall.
We are patient and we are kind, we shall gorge and rule
when you are sound asleep on the earth we have softened and tended
the green beds left where we could hide them from your long sullied eyes.
We will tend to the remains of you, always the servant’s duty,
for we will save you, take you, make you a thing of beauty.
We are many and we are one,
join us and let the pain be undone.
– Alexa M. Williams
Alexa M. Williams is a multi-national writer living in York, UK. They have lived and worked in three countries, with their experiences including script, poetry, and short fiction writing. They have a particular interest in horror and beauty in their work.
“In the greenest darkness, I hear whispered” was shortlisted in the debut competition from the Where Ideas Grow blog Team. The theme was ‘Growth’