Daniela Verdeș participates in the „Poetry” section of the International Literary Creation Competition, 4th edition, from Bucharest, Romania. Daniela is 37 years old. We thank her for her participation and wish her success.

Dark wonderland


Don’t dare trace your steps smeared with blood
Along the forsaken path where your spirit did tread.
Rivers of fear whisper at its side, madness looms therein,
Keepsakes are beasts that feed from every sin.

Wander not through the darkened corners of your mind,
Over unkempt graves, where you left so many dreams behind.
Never has their poison tasted so decadent, so bitter,
But don’t! Dawn has broken, soon your soul will wither.

Before the first sunbeam steals the magic from your eye,
Rapture will be long gone, your dreams will once more die.
Longing for the light, you’ll forget to be,

Thinking that from darkness you have been set free.
Never will you feel, never will you remember
The dark passion fountains
Where your Self is lost forever.
 

Oubliette

The shadows fully-grown, the candles dim,
A sigh, a pause of silence, then a scream,
The thoughts arrayed in a mind forsaken to doom,
Under the frozen chandelier of stars and sky of gloom.

The image of beauty sepulchered in oblivion,
Empty eyes upon which tomorrow will never dawn,
Head leaning on the door, she caresses the wood,
To make it hear her and open- if only it could...

Drawn in shades of black is the contour of her soul,
With no ray of light, no sign of life to keep it whole.
Her black lead wings keep her body to the ground,
While within she's sinking lower, without struggle, without sound.

The abyss of darkness starts spreading menacingly,
Spectacles of madness and fear unfold blindingly,
But the curtains are drawn on the stage tonight,
She is abandoned, forgotten, out of sight.


With every breath she's sinking deeper into herself,
Amazingly beautiful, but rotten inside- her other self,
The clear eyes that used to shine full of grace,
Are now sunk and hollow on her wax-pale face.

The hair that used to flow golden on her shoulders
Is growing white before its time, like a coil of snakes
Shedding their skin, making room for a change
That's going to pull her down in the grave.

Frozen, trembling to the very core,
Dripping poison through every pore,
Drunk with despair, she's giving in,
Waking to reality now would be a sin...
	

A faint sob and she closes her eyes,
Her poor twisted soul towards death flies.
The moon throws light on her hand, on the key-
She was the one forbidding herself to be free.



Testimony of a Vampire

Let me mirror my soul in your soul,
And see myself flawless-as you do,
Comfort me, keep me safe, my hand do hold,
As the lights grow dim and we are alone.

Let me clasp you at long last,
After having spent an eternity unwhole,
Don't walk in shadow, nor in light,
But be by my side forever more.

I wouldn't fear myself still,
Were I in your arms,
Helpless, trembling with the chill
Of night's evanescent charms.

Lull me to a deathless, dreamless sleep,
Untouched even by the slightest threads of consciousness,
Dip my soul in light while my body's drowned in darkness,
Let me drift away as my nightmares far you keep.

Don't let me sip from the chalice of forbidden truth,
Breathe unto me and spare my fallen soul,
Lure me, let me abide in you, abandoning myself,
While my inward eye awakens.

Heartbeat by heartbeat you watch upon me,
Holding my hand fast, not letting me fall,
I'm now above and beyond, I have it all,
I am lost, I am found, I am not me.

Slowly, the taste of your blood on my lips
Drags me back to where I belong.
My love is weeping- bitterly and cold,
Lying breathless by my side, gone amiss.

Holding you in my arms, I turn to you once more,
Let me give you back your never-dying light…
I surrender to you, so quench your thirst
With my tears, soothe your pain with my sobs,
You must live so I can be alive forever more.