POETRY BY ENGILBERT EGILL STEFANSON

Engilbert Egill Stefánsson is a poet and short story writer from Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland, where he lives with his wife and two daughters.

His work has been published with Sirens Call and he is currently working on a poetry collection as well as a short story collection.

THE DARKNESS WITHIN

These rays from the blood-red sun have blinded my decaying eyes for the last time.
Once again, it will light up the darkness within
When the rays from the blood-red sunshine through.
It makes the monster within bring out its diseased grin.
And after it has shown you its teeth
The only place you will be able to rest.
Will be the earth underneath.
My soul has run out.
No strength left to hold it in
My eardrums shattered as I shout.
I have released the monster from within.
In this world where your own breath burns your throat.
And the water scalds your skin.
Are bodies which to the heavens they float.
This world is lost, for I have set free the monster within.

GARDENS
In these gardens where children once roamed free.
Only remains an ash-fallen playground.
Broken memories of what once was.

The future was sacrificed for what? I do not know.
All that is left is a decomposing world.

Only a few remnants of our home remain.
The rest turned to dust and forgotten.
No hint remains of the horror that tore us apart.
But our souls, broken and downtrodden.

Every beauty has left our world
None have ever returned.
Those of us left, wander blindly with no real destination to follow.
The path is gone; never will I see another lover.
It’s over.

INSANITY

The walls are caving in.
The pressure unbearable.
I yearn for the smell of roses by the lake.
I don’t know how much more I can take.

I see the light.
But I am chained to the stones of insanity.
A prisoner inside my own mind.
Lost to me is the concept of normality.

Trapped forever more in this pit of despair.
Punished for my existence.
The shadows howl with infernal glee at my suffering.
However, they did not anticipate my resistance.

A VALLEY SO DARK

In this valley so dark, I find myself not alone.
Shadows tower over me, the light has gone.
I manage not even a spark.

A waterfall, once so pure
Once so full of life, now stands still.
With its sirens who to your death will lure.

Trees dead and broken.
Nowhere a word is ever spoken.
The valley is naught but a mirror.
To show us that hell is ever nearer.

What once was green and fair
Has become a rotten prayer.

In this valley so dark, I find myself not alone.
The shadows drag me down into the mire.
Their touch burns as hellfire.

Alas, my mind betrayed me
This valley is a mirror to a truth so shocking.
It is not our world but our souls that are rotting.

As I am dragged down below.
I realize nothing within my soul will ever grow.