Enshrining the Many‐Fingered Grasp
The frigid wind slices through the exposed nerves studding my skin I see him between the trees, trudging through the snow His wicked hands are mounted on me in petrified desperation I lie in wait
Submitted by NecroLord — Jun 24, 2026
I have seen these woods a thousand times Yet today every tree seems new A trunk pulses upwards against my palm in steady rhythm I feel sick as I remove the knife from my hip Wet splinters tumble onto my feet as my blade digs into the rotting wood Pale-yellow, undulating bodies… there must be thousands of them They curve and carve in impossible order I cannot read these glyphs but they must have meaning I see the towering stag, ankle-deep in the snow, its decorated head turning to face me I’m clouded by my breath but not a wisp escapes its leathered snout We are close enough now that I can see my face in the wet of its eyes In an instant, the barrel is hot in my hand The ringing in my ear turns deafening as I see the warm wound nestled in his fur Each hair stands on end and falls, rippling in waves as if something is underneath I can hear their every gnarled black leg—scraping and scratching, burrowing They’re deafening now, and I can hear their every gnarled black leg Swimming in my terror I peer into the bullet hole and see the infestation of woodworms beneath Hacking and sawing to find only bone His antlers cut irregular furrows in the blanket of snow as I drag him across the forest bed
Submitted by NecroLord — Jun 24, 2026
On my table lies a flayed innocence Casting light colder than the sun, I turn the fine hairs golden Velvet and glassy eyes Mirrored pools in which my features arise… Velvet and glassy eyes Mirrored pools in which my features arise… The shadow of his antlers tower behind me like winter trees Is this why I find myself afraid to puncture his matted coat? Or am I bothered at how familiar his face is? Velvet and glassy eyes Mirrored pools in which my features arise… Velvet and glassy eyes Mirrored pools in which my features arise… The blood is still wet on the hem of my shirt His dead pupils hover in effervescence—they reveal what I cannot see The shadow of his antlers tower behind me like winter trees I pry the eyes out in a frenzy Yet all that remains is two knowing craters
Submitted by NecroLord — Jun 24, 2026
The silence in the room lasted days Every second thick with the sense of waiting I endlessly filled my hands counting his antlers Five left, five right… Five left, five right… It felt inevitable when the head finally spoke Its body now the fire roaring beneath— I fed it to continue its whispers About the monstrous thing I have done The beautiful, eyeless crеature I took from the forest Feel His posthumous words arе sacred to me My palm swells with metallic heat as the floorboards thump with his weight The sound of him falling into the snow, again and again The heat grows unbearable to contort my hands See Wrists pressed together in upward grasps Its empty sockets dance with the flickering Fire Coaxing me to become the pelt that I created To mount my own head next to his The flicker ceases and so does my trance Frantically reaching to pry his head from the mantle Only to awake on the floor I’d made it down to my ankle before I dropped the blade As if I could slither out from the opening in my side Blood soaks into wood and fur as his head sits motionless Through his eyes, I writhe beneath like a worm I am the realizations that you have yet to come to I am the realizations that you have yet to come to I am the realizations that you have yet to come to I am the realizations that you have yet to come to
Submitted by NecroLord — Jun 24, 2026
You gnaw at your wrist to escape your own hand The head knows my name and speaks a thousand words with its stare Commanding the hands that mutilated him to attach to my temples His whisper scorches my fingers Blinded with agony as the bone begins to surface “I will carve myself out of you As I have always done” Charred tissue and blackened blood still cling to the skeleton of my hands As they melt into my skull Desperately flailing arms finish his work, splintering and severing my wrists Leaving a new crown in its place I can see my disfigured face in the wet of his sockets Grazing amputated forearms against the stripped hands clinging to my scalp, fingers grasping upwards Counting in my reflection Five left Five right… With another roar from the fire, the frayed ends of my pelt begin to lift Unsheathing bare muscle from the seam down my side Bisecting the webs of my toes and along my taint, slitting the lips and separating the nostrils There is not enough left of my mind to feel this pain Nerves burst through sinew to create an excruciating fur As I am sculpted into his form I gurgle through gristle and blood: “Is this what you are?” I can see my disfigured face in the wet of his sockets Grazing amputated forearms against the stripped hands clinging to my scalp Fingers grasping upwards Now I see through his eyes and receive an answer: “It will be”
Submitted by NecroLord — Jun 24, 2026
Slack-jawed, eyeless, lifeless… The sun must be starting to rise, I can see gold in the pool of my blood What was inside of him I feel coursing inside of me Yet my eyes remain and my hands are rendered harmless I still breathe My body arranged in impossible order Murmurs within the walls The drone of feeding A number so large that they sound like rain Humming beneath my feet One has made it through, writhing in silence I smear it across the wood as I staggеr towards the light creeping in The frigid wind slices through mе Sinking into the snow No furrows to be found Something disturbs the quiet… Yes… I see him distantly between the trees His wicked hands—free I will carve myself out of him My shadow bends and I feel a warmth The hairs left on my forearm, though not many, are studded with golden flecks in this light The wind has calmed A shot; a muffled thud The birds make themselves known as they startle into the air He has left with another deer The sun is growing hot now I must lay in the snow And I’ll close my eyes Feeling them feed, buzzing in my bones Digesting my agony into nothing
Submitted by NecroLord — Jun 24, 2026