a poem about mania:
Of the Days Electric
coming up from sleep,
I slowly arise from my bed,
I can feel the light,
before my eyelids peel apart,
stretching the dreams from my limbs,
shaking the night from my mind,
I walk towards an entirely new day,
full of all manner of possibilities,
that are at times so electric,
I am pulled into the flow.
yet, other days are wide as a yawn
and on those days, mind and body rest,
in preparation for the times
I ride the highest voltage wires.
a poem about suicide:
Skirmish with the Tow
Lone, I sit, on the dock, legs dangling,
three feet above cobalt water moving deep;
I can feel its pull, am unsteady in my space,
fearing it will take me.
Gulls beside, in back, scream, push me forward,
the water calls as it hits the poles anchoring the wood
planks upon which I sit… as boats slip past,
waves see-saw their way into the breakwall behind me,
then are slapped back into the river…
the dock shakes with the impact,
I quiver at the shaking.
A freighter’s horn rises forlornly, deep and low,
as I watch pieces of flotsam, scraps of rubbish,
being pushed along, the river cleaning itself of
unwanted debris; I decide that I do not want
to be any part of that waste…
I pull myself up by my fear,
and walk away.
a poem about healing from depression:
Healing
having prepared this space
to accompany his malady,
he curls, an abraded animal,
nursing gashes still raw,
tender to the slightest utterances.
he lies dark against bleached muslin,
slats closed flat against filmed panes,
no talons of sunlight reach here,
shadows’ greyness blends drab and faded
onto sluggish hollow walls.
This space is where despair can echo,
till it loses all hint of sadness,
where pain can be nurtured into oblivion,
healing work goes on within the darkness,
allows shadows to quietly gain dimension.
sneaks out while light breaks through,
darkened corners disappear,
as he stretches from the fetal,
rising from the blood-soaked cotton
to reach with fingers yet weak, trembling,
he allows new life to enter, cleansing,
awash, from windows flung wide open.