Smoke and Mirrors (Ghost)

Age old mystery of a truth never told
Built upon foundations of tenuous trust
Seen in quick reflections time and again
Willfully discredited as airborne dust

The things I have heard with my own two ears
Sounds of the night can’t possibly explain
I’ve listened to the morning arrive with fears
While witnessing the nighttime inflicting pain

I can still hear playful laughter of children
Also acknowledging the harsh sounds of insanity
Making me question the solidity of my existence
In relation to the reality of current humanity

Noises are a telltale sign of my desperate tale
This story I tell myself to make sense of it all
Yet visions I endure are the most sinister by far
To see what I’ve seen would cause an empires fall

I am outside looking into a smoke filled room
Through the painted glass that draws me inside
Sterling image of myself through the silver haze
Mystery of existence becomes my seductive bride

Mirage or miracle is a question left unanswered
As I remain standing alone with my reflection
Wondering if I am visible or fearfully ignored
While perpetually bound to my beloved’s protection

Contradiction In Black

 

I see the inside from far outside the boundaries
While images of the exterior come from deep within
My lasting impression of absolute angelic purity
Wears the guise of explicitly lustful carnal sin

To say I am a liar would be God’s honest truth
Yet I have never spoken falsely over so many ages
I have shaped wise men from simple earthen clay
Commanded lunacy be inflicted upon the wisest sages

What some see above would be my biggest downfall
As what exists below is the very thing that lifts me
 While the light illuminates the slightest positivity
It is inside darkness that my essence comes to be

A myriad of names can be called to bring me forth
I can likewise be found under moniker of nameless
Forcefully I shall direct the strong and the willful
Or subtly coerce the humble souls wandering aimless

I appear to be two sides of a very complicated coin
Tossed to the wind defining such a simple contradiction
 A seemingly benevolent demeanor draws so many close
 Only to find the malignant truth of malevolent infliction

Night Train (A Nightmare Concluded)

Some of you may recognize the first image from a prior flash fiction piece of mine entitled  “A Nightmare To Remember” . I had always intended to continue with that story and finally found a suitable image that inspired the rest of the story. This is a bit different in style to the original piece but tells the continuing story of the character’s quest for what lies below……

I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed bringing it to it’s conclusion

Familiarity for a place I have never physically been before

A sense of dread combined with an eager anticipation

Things my eyes show me to be the truths of my surroundings

Become both overwhelming and soothing to my sensibilities

As my dreamscapes overseer draws me downward once again

 

Shadows and voices return with renewed ferocity and tangibility

Past recurring theme of being led into the intriguing unknown

Curiosity and terror battle for control as I make my way down

A subterranean seduction of my desire to know the unnamed

To finally find what has been beckoning for so long in the night

 

Far beyond where I am repeatedly taken from my journey so abruptly

Further below than I have ever been or may have ever hoped to be

My fervent questioning of secrets within the shadows perhaps foolish

As my thirst for awareness is once again shrouded in paralyzing fear

My delivery to the origin of these eerie steps leaves me stupefied

 

A subway platform of the most odd and unimaginable exists

Far below the place where my delusional odyssey began

A sinister place seemingly alive with shadows and voices

Multitudes of dark and insistent voices that I know so well

Haunting me; taunting as they deliver me to my waiting train

 

As I cross the threshold I am struck by the foul stench of death

Telltale signs of those that came before me are ever present

Epiphany arises as I am struck by the dire truth of my destination

There can be only one place that this voyage will come to it’s conclusion

My fascination with what waited for me below brings me to my Hellish end

 

Greeted by a new yet too familiar figure as it draws me ever near

I am burdened with the memories of all my human indiscretions

Branded with a number to become my new and infinite identity

My headstrong will to survive is stolen with astonishing force

As a modern day Charon removes the pennies from my eyes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Within

Once again I find myself within these confines

Walls closing in while freedom can’t be reached

Tantalizingly close yet so frustratingly far away

Impenetrable barriers that can’t be breached

 

Self imposed imprisonment of the mind

My thoughts become the bars of this cage

Imagination slammed shut and locked tight

While absence of ideas illustrates my rage

 

Incarcerated within the framework of artistry

Words once my weapons now become my cell

What is to become of the visions within my head

Only the unhurried sands of time will ever tell

 

Enclosed inside the heavy mortar of awareness

Lies a battlefield embroiled in a war I cannot win

Irony frames the only window in my shrinking box

As thick frozen glass keeps light out and darkness in

 

 

 

Golden Gift Of Memory

To all my wordpress friends.

I found myself writing what I thought was going to be a poem from the lighter side and the importance of memories, when one specific line came to me and changed the entire theme. As someone who has the unfortunate circumstance of witnessing the ravages of both Alzheimer’s disease and early onset dementia in two of my family members, I suddenly realized this piece was about them. So any of you who may also be familiar with how devastating this condition can be to a family and friends, please know this is a dedication to you as well.

 Golden gift of sunlight’s departure

Leaves us with such stunning visions

Images etched into pleasant memory

To draw upon when times seem bleak

 

Peaceful places are frozen in time

So they may bring warmth from above

People and places linger ever sweet

Upon the fragility of remembrance

 

Safe to say we all cling to elusive hope

A desire never to forget the paramount

To hold captive visions of adventures past

While remaining keen within the moment

 

We should never stop chasing forward

So we may have an abundance of riches

Treasures stored away to be recollected

On days such as these when troubles loom

 

Live in the moment and then store it away

Along the banks of a serene flowing river

A place inside the mind that can easily be found

So it may once again be brought forth to enjoy

 

Do these things I ask with diligence always

While also remembering the less fortunate

For the ones among us who were betrayed

Left standing along the banks of confusion

 

Cruelest fate of a lifetime stolen in the night

Left with nothing to recall as joyous or blessed

While strangers are made of the dearly beloved

And what is fair and right vanishes with the sun

 

 

 

 

 

 

Silent Scream

It has the power to make the night come alive

 

To paint the darkness vivid with invisible color

 

It walks alone, unseen among the multitudes

 

Casting shadows of nothingness upon empty spaces

 

Existing solely out of perceptual nonexistence

 

Consisting of the dreams said to be impossible

 

Things deemed far too frightening to be believed

 

Capturing imaginations without casting it’s net

 

It is the passing flash in the corner of the eye

 

A chilling sensation that there are eyes upon you

 

Stealing your aspirations and feeding on ambition

 

Existing everywhere and nowhere simultaneously

 

It lives inside the thunderous roar of quietude

 

Strange satisfaction derived from paralyzing fear

 

White noise inaudible and without distinct direction

 

Terror that can’t be described as it swallows you whole

 

As the world goes inconceivably dark and eternally quiet

 

All things devoured, absorbed within this silent scream

 

Lighthouse

Standing like a sentinel along cliffs edge

Listening to the crashing surf all these years

Watching ever vigilant as ships pass in the night

So as to provide safe passage to the masses

 

Lifeless tower seemingly with a vitality to behold

Holding the secrets of the ocean selfishly 

So many lives were lost on this guardians watch

What toll did surf and rocks treachery take?

 

Turning a brilliant gleaming eye on suffering

The soulless citadel cares not for desperation

Nor does it hear the wailing in the night

As the countless departed call from the deep

 

Grand irony can be found in such an eerie twist

As the watcher has for many generations been watched

A nightly vigil has been kept throughout the ages

As a lady in waiting observes from afar

 

This beautiful maiden awaits her long lost love

Bravest navigator so tragically lost to raging sea

Casualty of this monuments utter disregard

Stolen from her well before his proper time

 

So fitting that time will see her find revenge

She has the luxury of the seasons on her side

As she will gladly watch the ravages of time

Take their toll on decaying brick and stone

World Vision

Gaze upon the truths and many lies

Both told with thoughtful conviction

Harsh realities so abundantly clear

Stunning beauty their contradiction

 

A world of wars and unending hatred

Is balanced with a baffling compassion

A need to spread the wealth of tenderness

Should never be seen as out of fashion

 

 While day eternally has the night to rely upon

So will the good continually offset the bad

The light will perpetually accentuate the dark

As misery must be endured for better times to be had

 

 These words that I speak with voice unwavering

Must be heeded to begin the journey to a better day

A heavy hand is capable of gently holding a feather

So let the sinister carry the torch and light the way

 

Let them find safe passage out of the shadows

As they come to realize the truth of new decision

Recognition is in order if the change is to be made

That we all may begin to share a new world vision