Jacob's Ladder

Laterite stained dawn, the day begins to bend. Woke up here, where endings never end. The city hums... but off-key, slightly wrong. A humming in the gut, been there too long. See faces shift? The bone beneath the smile? Just a flicker... lasts a little while... The corners breathe. They whisper my old name. Is this the treatment? Is this the game? The walls Lean inward, skin begins to peel... A jagged geometry, this cannot be real! I'm tethered tight, but gravity is lost. Counting shadows, what's the final cost? They're watching from the seams, where mortar starts to weep. The secrets buried shallow, restless in their sleep. Static! Static! In my eyes! Visage peeling! Hear their cries! The floor is pulsing! Tastes like rust! Turning into... dust! Claws unseen! A frequency of dread! Pulling threads! Inside my head! WHERE'S THE SURFACE? CAN'T BREAK THROUGH! What they did... it sees me... sees you! STRAPPED DOWN TIGHT! in blinding white! scalpel gleams a lie! this isn't where I die! PULLING DOWN! NO ESCAPE! from this final, awful shape! Static! Static! In my eyes! Visage peeling! Hear their cries! The floor is pulsing! Tastes like rust! Turning into... dust! Claws unseen! A frequency of dread! Pulling threads! Inside my head! WHERE'S THE SURFACE? CAN'T BREAK THROUGH! What they did... it sees me... sees you! A hand. A quiet voice. "Jacob. Breathe." "It's just the letting go... nothing to grieve." "Release the anchor. Yield the brittle frame." "The ladder's waiting... whispering your name." [Soft, flowing ambient pads enter] The frequency drops... the shadows start to fade. A light not built of sunlight... unafraid. A stair not wood or stone, but simple grace. Leading upwards... to that quiet place. His hand in mine... I see my boy... he smiles. Walking past the echoes... measured in no miles. No weight... no fear... the current pulls me through. Ascending... Silent... New...