A master of poetry, I am not. In fact, the last time I wrote anything remotely poem-like was… … …middle school? I think. And that’s because we were forced to do so for English class. However, I’m more than happy to contribute a few lines of something or other to UWG’s month of spooky silly poetry! Hopefully my feeble attempt at this won’t make the true wordsmiths run for the hills. If you’re still here, thanks, and please enjoy (or cackle at) my first entry here inspired by the game DOOM.
Here I stand, peering around the corner.
I see you in the distance, standing…no floating.
You don’t have any legs.
But that’s to your advantage.
Especially when you consider the clumsiness of humanity.
You’re not human either.
And it shows.
Humans aren’t floating balls of death.
Though I guess anything is possible.
No, anything IS possible – just look at YOU after all!
And look at me, as I hide here at the corner.
Humanity at its finest?
I’m a Space Marine! I have my glare, my gun…
My grasp on reality in this demon-ridden world is all too strong.
Why then do I wish you would just float away?
Just float away in the other direction.
Because of all the hissing; it’s a sound I despise.
The grunts and growls of others are dulcet tones,
But that hissssss…ssssss….ssss.
The sound sets my ears on fire, just like your plasma bursts.
I will burst should I get too close, be too clumsy.
From here, I can hear the hissing, other angry sounds too.
(So you’re not alone?)
But mostly hissing.
hisssssss … SSSS SSSS SSSSS … …
And I need to it stop.
Now.
Here I stand, peering around the corner.
I see you in the distance and I aim
Never played Doom, but this has me intrigued. Here I thought the Minecraft Creeper’s hiss was the first to strike fear into the hearts of gamers, but it turns out DOOM pioneered that too. Neat!
DOOM was quite something to play through back in the day, and though its graphics don’t totally hold up, I still recommend it to anyone interested in early shooters. One of the best things about it was its sound design — the monsters’ howls and atmospheric sound effects were genuinely creepy! (I’ve heard the same about the Creeper’s hiss. I’ll pass, thanks. :) )
Nice poem. The Cacodemon sounds pretty scary. I like how you repeat the first line at the end, and then it ends when the narrator gets ready to fire.
I just watched a few Youtube videos of the Cacodemon. Spooky indeed.
Thank you for the kind words. :) I don’t write poetry at all, so trying to dredge up the basics of what I remember from school was a challenge.
Of all the monsters in DOOM and DOOM 2, the Cacodemon is my least favorite to face. There are scarier-looking monsters, but none sound as horrible as that floating mass of teeth and fire.