A Coffin of Innocence

My innocence lay in its coffin
Under my bed.
"Come on and open me," it said.
"You would have heaps of fun if you did.
All you have to do is prop my lid."

I pushed my hands against my face,
From the very top, all the way down to my stubby chin.
"No, no," I cried, "You'll never do me in."

I heard a haughty laugh
Bellow from below.
Then the voice continued to persuade my soul:
"If you think I'm trying to 'do you in',
I can assure you, I will not make you sin.
I only wish for you to open me up;
Give a glance and backup
To a time when every
Cloud seemed to be lined with cotton candy.
Fluffy, pink, and etched in ink.
When parallels seemed to blend
And collect in a wad of rainbow at the end
Of your mind.
Ideas spiraled in and out of your head
Without a moment's dread
Of what will come soon enough."

I drew in a deep breath,
Wanting everything the voice had described.
None of it appeared cold, I rationalized.
Maybe I should just hurry and make a choice.
"Come. I'm waiting," drawled the voice.

My knees shook violently against
The threads of my bed.
My heart fought to stop me
As I made my way slowly
To the carpet floor.
And it fought harder
When I reached underneath my bed,
A coffin drawing closer.
But there was no going back now.
With the voice reining over me,
There was no way how.

My lanky fingers peeled the ebony lid
Away and revealed the contents within.
To my ignorance, I was expecting
A sight worth worshiping,
Full of all the wondrous and clever ideas,
The exact ones the voice had so brilliantly depicted.
That was not what I saw
In the abyss-like coffin.

The second I revealed its insides to the air,
A dark mist choked me in despair.
The voice cackled and hacked up a storm
As I mounted myself, bracing for more.

"You foolish child! Did you truly believe
I possessed those things?
You cannot tell me that
You're so quick to trust!
You believe all that is told to you,
And that, my dear friend, is a must!
I have waited years and years
For someone like you to approach my sweet ears.
At last, a day dawned on me
And brought your soul hesitantly
Into my claws!
And how excited I am
To exclaim, 'I have found my lamb!'
You, and all of humanity, will soon see
How stupid you are for following me!"

A hard lump
Caught in my throat.
'Was I really that foolish?' I questioned.

Just then, the darkness shoved a path through my teeth
And down to places I dare not preach.
I convulsed,
My feet slamming against dresser drawers.
I tried to scream, but nothing would come out.
My intuition held no doubt
That the voice would soon end me.

Now, I lay on the floor,
Wishing I had more
Of a conscience,
Logic,
Or anything to get me out of this mess.
Yet, nothing could be undone:
I had opened the Coffin of Innocence;
The world would now perish at my dispense.

Meanwhile, I suffocated and
Mulled for a resolution.
I died moments later,
Along with humanity's sanity.

No one would be spared.