What Was Once Hidden (poetry) by Joseph Dionisio

I dub my fingers into his face;
he stiffened involuntarily. I did likewise
as I felt the flesh-that-was-no-flesh
peel away
and reveal and ugly truth.
I imagined the world beyond watching
through the camera's unblinking eye,
gasping at what was once hidden:
The face of the enemy is a serpent's.

We were forced to flee.
Our steps seemed lighter, for we had done
what we set out ot do.
But...things happened...
I was captured by a traitor
and was brought before the Enemy.

She never touched me,
and yet I was brutalized.
She shredded the barriers
that shielded me from the horrors of the past
and the demons of my own imagination.
What was once hidden
devoured and ravished me;
I wanted to die, but
the Enemy
wouldn't let me.

She almost broke me;
she found what was once hidden,
something inside me
that I didn't even know existed.
She twisted the latent Love,
corrupted it into Terror,
and Hate,
and Pain.

But when I saw
what was once hidden, even to me...

I was hurting very badly,
but at least I still was me.