POETRY BY AMANDA RUZSA

Amanda Ruzsa lives in Minnesota with her husband, three children, a dog and a cat. When she isn’t buried in a spooky book, she enjoys baking and spending time with her family— usually watching creepy movies or playing outrageous board games. In her free time, she enjoys collecting Halloween decor, writing morbid poetry, reorganizing her books and coming up with ways to surprise and amuse her friends and family.

It has been a lifelong joke among her friends and family that Amanda is a member of the ‘grammar police.’ Writing and reading have always played a huge part in her life, stemming from growing up idolizing the talents of her Mother: a novelist, artist and journalist.

She began creating stories and crafting poems at a young age and never stopped. Now, reading and writing is still a huge part of her everyday life, and she feels blessed to be able to share her love of spooky stories with so many. 

TRIPPING ON DEATH

My mind is about
To burst into flames
You know what they say
‘It’s all fun and games’
Well maybe so
But consider this:
You’re out of your mind
Too gone to piss
The shadow bullets
Never miss
Wait a minute—
Nothings there
Just a second—
Where is there?
You look around
And curse your eyes
You’ve gone to hell
You realize
But then you blink
And it’s all gone
The air is still
Something is wrong
Now you’re home
Safe in bed
Blankets are pulled
Over your head
Sinister whispers
Flood your brain
And then it hits you–
You’ve gone insane
Wait a minute—
You’re somewhere new
There’s something waiting
Watching you
Your heart is racing
Skipping beats
You’re about to meet
Something that tortures
All it meets
Your head is pounding
And you can’t see
Because you sold
Your soul for free

DROWNING

Muddy water climbs my arms
And tears stream down my face
Standing in a sea of tears
I’m confined to this place
My voice is loud
But muted
My cries are shrill
But refuted
The water slowly rises
As I look for you
My fingertips brush your back
But I can’t reach you
Further away
You drift from me
Leaving me behind
As I’ll always be
Somewhere in your past
A speck among the crowd
For advancing into your heart
Simply isn’t allowed
I try to scream
But I only take in water
And as my lungs explode
I wonder why I bother

PATH

Like an unpaved path
Shaded by twisting branches
Clouded skies
I am wandering
Wondering
Is this the right path
Did I take the right path
I came to a fork some ways back
Left
Right
Dark
Light
Unkempt
Predictable
I desired life
The ups and downs
The highs and lows
The feelings
The free will
I chose the path not easily guessed
Followed remnants of travelers pressed into the mud
I walked alone
Fought through the skeletal branches
Clawed at the webs that blanketed my face
Scrambled through the darkest curtains of moss
And I came to a clearing
Dark
Empty
And a mirror
A vision of me on the other path
I smiled there
So porcelain
So predictable
Through the looking glass
And here
1 cry
Here
I am lost
Here
I am alive
I feel alive
And I turned back to embrace the path
The one I chose
The one I survived