Chains of Red

Chains of Red

** Image ID #2085839 Unavailable **

These chains of red hold me in place.
I cannot break the spell
of voices dark, without a face,
that keep me in this hell.
Insanity, my only friend,
my sole companion to the end.
         Insanity.
         Insanity!
Your crimson pathway I descend.

These chains of red hold me in place.
They cannot be denied.
I’ve prayed but found there is no grace,
no matter how I’ve tried.
I see the world through tortured eyes
and listen to its pain-filled cries.
         I see the world.
         I see the world;
my madness comes as no surprise.

These chains of red hold me in place
but soon I will be free.
The blade gleams as I watch it trace
my final victory.
I watch the blood pool on the floor
and, inwardly, my spirits soar.
         I watch the blood.
         I watch the blood!
This final chain holds me no more.

An entry for Round 18, "Invalid Item" 
Prompt: Image
Line Limit: 60 / Line Count: 27
Form: The Trijan Refrain consists of three 9-line stanzas. Line 1 is the same in all three stanzas. The first four syllables of line 5 in each stanza are repeated as the double-refrain for lines 7 and 8. The Trijan Refrain is a rhyming poem with a set meter and rhyme scheme as follows:
~ Rhyme scheme: a/b/a/b/c/c/d,d refrain of first 4 words of line five /c
~ Meter: 8/6/8/6/8/8/refrain4,4/8