The Abuser

• Laura Campbell, Grade 11, North Sydney Girls High School
• Poetry
• 2020

3rd in the 'The Inside Story 2020' competition

You stare down the spiralled staircase:
So steep and unimaginable,
But only taking four steps to complete its circle.
Step 1: Your first,
The unexpected exhilaration following.
Step 2: Your return to the motion,
The destination of this journey clouded and you -
Blissfully ignorant to the darkness below.
Step 3: The desire forces you further,
Your body propelled by your need to keep travelling.
How far can you go?
Step 4: Rock bottom.
A prisoner inside your own body
With the mind as its warden.
You cannot go back the way you came.
You must learn to fly.