"The Light Within" by Ross Balcom

The Light Within

The tapeworm found itself

inside you.

Its faces multiplied

in the mirrored hall of your

gut.

Those faces were beautiful;

they glowed like Heaven.

You

lay on your pallet,

wasted and thin. You were dim

as a dying sun. You shivered.

A darkness grew.

The tapeworm smiled,

and its smiles multiplied 

infinitely.

LIGHT  LIGHT   LIGHT

It was happy--happy to know

it outshone you.

--Ross Balcom

Poet's Notes: There is a dire shortage of poems about tapeworms. It's time we poets addressed this shortage. I hope "The Light Within" brings delight to all readers.