The Beast

• Alesia Riches, Grade 9, Cornerstone Christian College
• Poetry
• 2019

3rd in the 'Inspired 2019' competition

At the break of dawn, it roars.
In the darkness of night, it soars.
Descending on its victim with snarling claws,
It takes no witnesses, obeys no laws.
And this savage, alone searches to find,
A haven place; one of its kind.
In its boundless abyss, hunger gnaws.
Its icy heart, refuses to thaw.
Teeming, twisted, turpitudinous and torn,
The shackles it wears are weakened and worn.
This shadow roams freely, an infection amid the mind,
Deluding and deceiving, it leaves us blind.
This darkened creature, a harbinger of death,
Emits destruction with every breath.
An insidious scavenger, glutted with sin.
A force of human nature, concealed within.