Hello, I am Sin | Teen Ink

Hello, I am Sin

September 13, 2009
By Bristow BRONZE, Chesapeake, Virginia
Bristow BRONZE, Chesapeake, Virginia
3 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Hello, I am Insanity.

I am the white rabbit and the hole you chased it down. I am every Cheshire grin reflected in every mirror hall, and every bleeding rose in every shard when you break them. I am the madness behind every hatter at every tea party. I am the bottle that asks you to drink me. I am the cake that begs you to eat me. I am the caterpillar, watching from the mushroom as you struggle to remember who you are and what you’ve become. I am that you in your looking glass that flips reality backwards and is off with your head.

I am a nature of sin.


Hello, I am Deception.

I am every pretty lie he whispered in your ear, on summer nights when you were naïve enough to believe them all. I am the blush on your cheeks, the eye shadow on your lids that hides your disappointment from prying eyes. I am the gloss on your lips that smiles prettily when others ask, and the mascara on your lashes that looks away when you pass him. I am both your charade and your masquerade. I hide your tears and your eyes, your heart and your wrists. I am the shroud you’ve placed over the world in hopes of believing that underneath it there is still some mercy, some angel to save you. And then again, I am also your hopes.

I am a nature of sin.


Hello, I am Despair.

I am the circles under your eyes from sleepless nights. I am that cyan glare tattooed on your retinas, printed by each number of the alarm clock you’ve spent watching. I am that darkness pressing in on you, the cracks in your chewed fingernails, the grimy streaks on your face left by tears. I am the salt seeping into the cuts on your bitten lips. I am the wet and I am the cold and I am everything you hate but want so badly. I am that empty pit when you try to laugh and the red in your eyes when you try to cry. I’m your numb feet and your shaking hands and your chattered teeth. I am the hands that twist around your heart and squeeze, and I am the bubble of the scream that never leaves your throat.

I am a nature of sin.


Hello, I am Torment.

I am the person you see in the mirror every morning while you’re applying your face from a lipstick tube. I am the catch in your breath, the light in your eyes. I am that window to your soul that you can never close. I am that thing threatening to rip off your mask and expose you for what you are, and I am your fear of that happening. I am the butterflies in your stomach, and I am the one killing the butterflies. I am the one ripping off their wings one by one, and shoving them down your throat for you to swallow. I am the one pinning each longing glance to your heart with needles of hopelessness.

I am a nature of sin.


Hello, I am Destruction.

I am fire. I am smoke. I am the toxic clouds around your head, the torn asphalt beneath your feet, the broken glass in your heels. I am the skeletons of skyscrapers made of steel bones and brick skin. I am all that once was becoming all that will not be, and you standing in the wreckage. I am your mind wondering why, as your naïve belief in peace and fairy tales comes crashing down. I am your wings, crumpled and broken as you realize you cannot fly. I am the hole where your heart was torn out by corruption, and I am corruption itself.

I am a nature of sin.


Hello, I am Chaos.

I am screams of terror on humid, starless nights. I am broken windows and vandalized drug stores. I am the crow bar beating against your iron gate, your bloody handprints on the shower curtain. I am cracked fluorescent lights and grimy bathroom tiles puddled with water. I am the shadows swimming in your glassy eyes, the liquor at your lips, the laughter in your throat. I am the secret desires hidden behind locked doors. I peek at you from the keyhole in Pandora’s box, shaking your tempered frame, and when you release me I will be demons with red eyes and anarchy hidden as embodiments of power and control.

I am a nature of sin.


Hello, I am Death.

I am the spots of black in your vision, the water rushing down your throat when you try to breathe. I am the face you see in the noose hanging from your basement ceiling. I was the gun you ate yesterday, then I became the blackness, the nothingness, the emptiness. I am the fire and the brimstone, the light and the revelation. I am the graveyard dirt blanketing you in murky warmth. I am the worms that feed on your flesh. I am the blood sprayed across your couch, and all that’s left of you anymore. I am what’s waiting for you, I am what’s beckoning you. I am a shroud and a coffin and a scythe all at once. I am the harvester of human lives, and I am both heaven and hell. A demon and a god. And as you fall asleep for the last time, I become you.

I am the beginning and end of all sin.



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This article has 38 comments.


on Oct. 15 2021 at 3:03 pm
WolvesRain ELITE, Walton, Kentucky
117 articles 1 photo 190 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works." Virginia Wolf

All I can say is, wow! I'm glad you started publishing such great work!

on Aug. 22 2021 at 3:22 pm
Crazywolfiegirl2 PLATINUM, Kington, Other
26 articles 3 photos 284 comments

Favorite Quote:
There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter. —Rachel Carson

This was amazing, beautifully written.

on Nov. 5 2020 at 4:24 pm
Spirit-Myndelia BRONZE, Convoy, Ohio
2 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
What is stronger than the human heart that shatters over and over and still lives - Rupi Kaur

This is really good i honestly got this and felt it, you described me through that. You are very talented!

InkyOwl GOLD said...
on Jun. 21 2018 at 11:14 pm
InkyOwl GOLD, Bloomington, Indiana
10 articles 1 photo 30 comments

Favorite Quote:
Where Words fail, Music speaks.
~Hans Christian Anderson

I was reading this and thinking, "Wow, this person is really poetic and talented." Then I realized it was hitting close to home. Then I read the lines, "I am both your charade and masquerade," and "I am that thing threatening to rip off your mask and expose you for what you are, and I am your fear of that happening,"

I am now laying here with chills and tears streaming down my face. This is real, and it hits you in the gut when you see what relates to you. Great job.

on Oct. 2 2014 at 1:24 pm
theblondechick GOLD, Kingsport, Tennessee
14 articles 0 photos 104 comments

Favorite Quote:
I want to live and feel all the shades, tones, and variations of mental and physical experience possible in life.
And I am horribly limited.
-Sylvia Path

Wonderful prose! It caused me to shiver quite a bit. You drew me in by the title, the first sentence, and left me a little more profound at the end. I especially liked the line, I was the gun you ate yesterday. Killer last line.

on Apr. 4 2014 at 2:30 pm
kingofwriters BRONZE, DeWitt, Michigan
1 article 0 photos 196 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Books are a uniquely portable magic." - Stephen King

I love books, and I love technology, but I don't want to see the latter overwhelm the former. I just think books are meant to be pages you turn, not screens you scroll through.

THAT...was one of the most compelling things I have ever read in my life.

on Jul. 9 2013 at 6:57 pm
MorningStar921 PLATINUM, Cheshire, Connecticut
21 articles 0 photos 42 comments

Favorite Quote:
"They made their own choice. They chose family. And, well... isn't that kinda the whole point? No doubt - endings are hard. But then again... nothing ever really ends, does it?"
--Chuck, 'Supernatural' Episode 522

That was amazing! You had me hooked from the first word. I love the idea of personifying sin; quite creative, if I do say so myself.

on Jun. 21 2013 at 1:16 pm
PurpleBrass1st SILVER, Duncan, Oklahoma
8 articles 0 photos 14 comments

Favorite Quote:
Today you are YOU, that is truer than true. There is no alive who is YOUER than YOU! - Dr. Seuss

Each word sucked me in and made me want to keep reading. That was amazing! I could see everything you told about. Brilliant imagery! 

on Aug. 26 2012 at 4:08 am
LittleLadybird GOLD, Carrickfergus, Other
14 articles 0 photos 48 comments

Favorite Quote:
To be nobody but yourself in a world that is trying it's hardest every night and day to change you into everyone else is to fight the hardest battle a human being can fight, and never stop fighting.

Wow!!! That was one of the best pieces of writing I've ever read. It is thought provoking but you can still understand it, you are an amazing writer!!!

on Jul. 13 2012 at 8:33 am
PerksOfBeingMe BRONZE, Atlanta, Georgia
1 article 0 photos 2 comments
This is very creative, the imagery is wonderful and I love how you personified Sin in so many different ways. This is a really good piece.

leafy said...
on May. 31 2012 at 9:05 am
leafy, City, Other
0 articles 0 photos 682 comments

Favorite Quote:
Gil: I would like you to read my novel and get your opinion. 
Ernest Hemingway: I hate it. 
Gil: You haven't even read it yet. 
Ernest Hemingway: If it's bad, I'll hate it. If it's good, then I'll be envious and hate it even more. You don't want the opinion of another writer. 

'Twas quite excellent, I might say. Each paragraph - each word, for that matter - was very powerful and, unsurprisingly, your metaphors and such were absolutely stupendous. I have read many pieces on Teen Ink, published or not, and this has got to be one of the best, in my opinion; therefore, I shall be favoriting it. Thank you.

on May. 30 2012 at 9:06 am
zoekibbelaar BRONZE, Curacao, Other
2 articles 0 photos 9 comments
I feel like I needed to post a comment to express how much I absolutely loved this, but I am at a loss for words. With every paragraph I read, my heart clenched more and more and more. The comparisons, metaphors and allusions are brilliant. I felt like I was a part of the writing, just by reading it. Really one of the best things I have ever read. 

on Dec. 28 2011 at 5:13 pm
Cheshirekat SILVER, Boise, Idaho
5 articles 0 photos 48 comments

Favorite Quote:
“A friend might well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Oh you can't avoid that; we're all mad here." - The Cheshire Cat

OMGOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is so..... its just.... wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't think of a word to describe it!!!!!!!!!!!!! Touching.

on Dec. 28 2011 at 10:36 am
AlwaysAntlers SILVER, Kingsport, Tennessee
5 articles 0 photos 72 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Don't forget - no one else sees the world the way you do, so no one else can tell the stories that you have to tell.”
― Charles de Lint, (from his book,The Blue Girl)

This really is amazing. The last paragraph, the one about death, is extremely powerful. Great job! Keep writing!

on Oct. 18 2011 at 2:14 pm
ERochelle23 BRONZE, Glendale, Arizona
2 articles 0 photos 4 comments
I love how you introduce each 'Sin' as a person, and your imagery is fantastic! On Insanity though, I suggest trying different wording or something, all I could think was "This is from Alice In Wonderland." Good job though!

on Aug. 27 2011 at 4:41 pm
wow i love your amazing description, it was dark, haunting, but also terrifying real, keep on writing!

Megsalot said...
on Aug. 12 2011 at 1:54 pm
This gave me goosebumps. I feel cold on this humid summer day... Keep writing, even though it's dark, I love it!

on Jul. 1 2011 at 11:47 am
TheSilverLaurel GOLD, Goole, Other
13 articles 0 photos 70 comments

this is the awesomest thin ive ever read! it sounds like something a psycopath would say, you can almost hear someone saying it, the lunacy in their voice.....

keep writing :)


queenbee1888 said...
on May. 22 2011 at 6:58 pm
that was wonderful. i loved every bit of it. the beginning with all the alice in wonderland references was amazing then the end with the death and all. i just loved it

on Apr. 8 2011 at 5:18 pm
tikapeek97 BRONZE, Waterboro, Maine
2 articles 1 photo 39 comments

Favorite Quote:
"good things come in small packages" =)

wow that was great...different, but great