This is the garden that light never finds,
Graffiti on the walls, from tormented minds.
Ropes are suspended from the surrounds,
No animal comes near, afraid of the sounds.
The only plants that grow are tired and brown.
There is a lake, but only for animals to drown.
There is no way out, except over the wall,
But for most, it seems they’re far too tall.

Amongst all the undergrowth, is a young child,
With thoughts of escape her mind is riled.
“How do I get free” she calls out to the night.
But only the dying plants hear her plight.
There is a gate at the bottom, she knows not to go through,
She has been warned just what happens if you do.
Behind that gate are the corpses of those,
Who died in the garden, now they decompose.
So many days she spent like this way,
Staring up at a sky of grey.
The walls are too high for her to climb,
“The end” she whispers “is just a matter of time”.

But one day she heard a piecing noise,
The sound of which contained all her joys,
It was the lock, on the forbidden gate,
And through came a man, with the answer to her fate.
He walked up to her with a box in his hands,
“Tell me what’s in it!” She asks, she demands!
It opened, and inside, were all the dreams she’d lost,
“You can have them back,” he said, “but at a cost”.

“What must I do to be happy” she pleads,
The man shut the box, now covered in weeds.
“You must scale the walls, of this garden of depression.
Only then your sorrows will lessen”
The temporary glisten in her eyes faded,
Her heart sunk, her happiness was blockaded.
She’d tried for so long, to get to the summit,
But whenever she tried, she would slip and plummet.

Tears escaped her eyes, as the man walked away.
“Wait” she called “there must be another way!”
He stopped and turned “there’s one thing you can do,
It will end your suffering, that I promise you.”
“What is it” she wailed “there’s nothing I won’t endeavour”
“You won’t like this at first” he reasoned “but however
I snide smile crept across the man’s face,
“At least you’ll be in a better place.”

She begged “any place is better than here,
Take me now, I have no fear!”
“Very well my child, follow my direction,
It will lead you to a place of protection”
So she mindlessly followed, as if she were a sheep,
And as they went through the gate, she heard people weep.

The sight that greeted her was one of terror,
She thought to herself “have I made an error?”
But it was too late; she was trapped here for good,
What would happen to her now, she finally understood.
She felt a sharp pain, and blood poured from her chest,
She crumpled to the ground, she was finally at rest.

She had foolishly wandered into the land of death,
Thinking her only option was to take her last breath.
All she needed was for her strength to harden,
Then she could’ve escaped, for good, from The Garden

------- Author's Notes -------

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