Materializing from the darkness of a hollowing sadness Insistent and desperate This lifeless labyrinth born of an aching emptiness The broken pieces you left behind To seek the light Copyright (C) 2021 Penny Wilson Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay *I know this is quite dark. I was having a hard time finding inspiration. For a prompt, I pulled out a book, opened it and just started writing down words or phrases that caught my eye. This poem is what came from that. hmmmm...
Mere existence pales the eyes weeping their color onto worn steps Recoiling from breath to diminish subsistence Existence has become trivial parody Copyright (C) 2020 Penny Wilson * All is well, my friends. This is just something that I've been plucking at for weeks. It finally feels complete. A bit dark, but I hope you like my creative attempt.
–Sarah Williams
This is a piece from 2016. It refers to the Unseen demons we all battle. When I came across this picture, which I thought was amazing, I thought she would be a perfect representation of that warrior. Enjoy. ❤
U – Unseen
Head up, shoulders back.
The water is a bitter drink, the air, like daggers tear at her heart.
She pushes back; those unseen dragons weigh heavily.
She has the resolve of the Ancients. Her battle will forge the way.
Her daughter and her daughter after that will also chase the darkness.
* This is a little something that I wrote back when things had been particularly dark for me, but I was able to break free from that darkness at last. I hope you enjoy! ❤
Hope brushed away the cobwebs.
The demons emerging, once more pushed back.
The spiral stopped; my feet on the ground.
I move forward with tentative steps; the light caressing my cheek.
The sun a blessing; awakening from the gloom that had my heart encased.
It surrounds me
holds me.
It comforts.
It’s familiar.
It knows me,
intimately.
Reality
kept at bay.
This is
better.
Safe.
Copyright (C) 2018 Penny Wilson
I feel the descent. I’m teetering on the edge of the abyss. Falling. Yet, grasping the rim. Holding on to the light.
I feel as if I’ve been kicked in the chest. The pain is palatable. Heavy, so very heavy. Head in hands. Sleep, blessed sleep. Dream away the darkness that steals the light and penetrates the soul.
The demons. They steal into my room to close the blinds and bolt the doors; hiding me from reality. They whisk me away into the night to feed on my will; my strength. Just out of reach is the sunlight that warms me.
Do I have the strength this time?
Copyright (C) 2018 Penny Wilson
*Don’t worry my friends, I’m fine, just in a foul mood.
**We all have our demons; our struggles.
The Demon screams and rattles the bars that confine him. The blackness and despair he’s cast over me in the past are gone for now. I check and double-check the locks. All is secure.
I’ve been in the grip of his vile, black storm. He’s held my soul clutched tightly, while I clawed and fought my way back to the light. I shudder, thinking about ever having to spend time in that hellish prison again.
Despair makes for an interesting muse. I write a wide variety of things. Poetry, short stories, fiction and non fiction. I find that my sad or darker stuff is usually better than something that is more light-hearted. I also find that I seek out the keyboard more readily if I am in a darker place than if I’m happy, as a way to express myself.
I have a theory about why this is the case.
I’m happy. I don’t really know why, but I feel really good. My life is going well and I’m just… happy!
Maybe it seems strange to you that I would talk about happiness this way, but I am so grateful for the happy days that I have to express it.
I’ve talked before about depression and the effects it’s had on my life at different times. I never know when it will strike again. And the bitch about depression is the fact that you don’t know that it’s happening to you until it’s got you by the throat.
You wake up one day, look around you and wonder how your world has become so dark, bleak and unforgiving. You know you have many blessings and many good things/people in your life. But the depression robs you of the ability to find joy in these things.
The joy you once found in music, or writing, or singing, playing the bongos, or anything else that gave pleasure is gone.
Depression creeps in and wedges into the little cracks and crannies of your life until it’s a full blown Dragon sitting on your chest.
The other thing that depression can do is make you immobile. I don’t mean that you suddenly can’t walk. What I mean is that the day to day things that used to be so easy are now mountainous to you.
The simple act of washing those few dishes in the sink, or taking that load of laundry out of the dryer, are acts that are just too hard to deal with at the moment.
Just existing is difficult.
You stop interacting with other people and you isolate yourself. Dealing with others is again, just too difficult. When you are in a full on assault from depression, you put on a brave face, so people don’t see.
Then you isolate yourself even more.
It becomes a terrible cycle. The more you isolate yourself, the worse your depression becomes. The worse your depression becomes, the more you isolate yourself.
People who have never experienced this don’t understand it.
Then one day, you’re looking out the window and suddenly the colors are more vibrant, like someone lifted the film from the window so that you have a clear view. You WANT to go for a walk, or wash the car, or visit family. Out of the blue you realize that you’re singing along with the radio. One day you’re sitting at the keyboard and realize that you’re WRITING again!
And just like that, you’ve made it through. The depression has passed. Maybe you had a change in medication, maybe you’ve had a change in your life, or maybe you just rode the wave. Whatever it is, it’s gone.
Will it be back? Will the dragons come creeping in the night to hide under my bed, waiting for their chance? I don’t know.
I DO know that today, I am happy and for that I’m grateful!
"She believed she could, so she did." 🌙
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