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Hallowed Halls

October 20, 2025

Josh Sorenson / Pexels

Red brick and weathered stone
Create the halls of my prison.
The shadows speak in riddles
And sunlight is a dim memory
Within these hallowed halls.

Inmates pass like ghosts,
Their discordant cries echoing
In the oppressive silence
That settles onto my bones
Like steel chains
And keep me rooted
In my misery.

I watch them go,
Knowing that my destiny
Is to follow them
Into the unknown chambers
Where life becomes meaningless
And all thoughts of redemption
Fade into despair.

But until then,
I’ll cling to sanity
With splintered claws,
Defying depression
For as long as I can
Within these hallowed halls.

Editor: Shannon Hensley

TagsFree Verse Poetry spooky season

Erynn Crittenden

Erynn Crittenden has written poetry since she could hold a pen. This love prompted her to earn a BA in Creative Writing, where she learned how to experiment with syllables and styles. Since then, Erynn has self-published three poetry collections (By the Bones, Transfiguration, and Into the Western Sky) through Amazon. She also writes and publishes plenty of individual poems on her website, and her work has appeared in the Talon Literary Magazine, the Beautiful Poetry anthology by Silent Sparks Press, the #AmWriting anthology by the Wayne Foundation, and Life Blood: A Collection of Vampire Tales by Gary Hill. Erynn is also the creator and host of the Present Poetry Podcast, where she reads and celebrates a different poet every week. Find it and the rest of her works by visiting her website at LadyErynn.com.