Poem: Negotiation with the Voices in My Head

A Negotiation

With the Voices in My Head

As I lay here

Wide Awake

In bed.

 

“Hey Voices, we’ve got 4 hours ‘til I must arise…

“While I resolutely close my eyes,

“Would you all kindly go back to sleep?”

“No!” they say.

Why am I not surprised?

 

“Hey Party Crowd in my head,

“I’ve got 3 hours ‘til I must leave this bed;

“Would you quieten down so I can sleep?”

“No!” they cry… as the seconds slowly creep.

 

“Hey Noisy Bunch, you’re such a pest,

“There’s just 2 hours left for me to rest;

“Would you be silent and let me snore?”

“No!” They shout, “You’ll sleep no more!”

 

Then, with just an hour to go…

“Hey Rowdy Rabble, who drives this bus?”

“Well, it can’t be you, it must be us!

“You have no power over your thoughts

“So we’ll keep you away from the rest you’ve sought!”

 

With ten minutes to go…

“Hey inconsiderate tenants in my attic

“It sounds as if you’re no longer at it.”

“Shhhh!” they say, “We’re settled down

“Turn out the lights…

“Get out of town!”

 

I am alarmed.

Poem: I Am A Church

I Am A Church

My Body is a Church;
My Eyes are Stained Glass,
Etched with Experience,
Coloured by My Past.

They change the way
I perceive the World,
Spied throughout each pane;
I see inside-out with mindsight
Thus my prejudices remain.

Every breath is like my spirit’s prayer,
Every word I say I preach
But sometimes my duplicitous message
Betrays a darker gospel lying deep beneath.

For from My Crypt
A stench arises:
Unresolved conflicts from
Life’s unpleasant surprises.

More bitter than
The taste of Myrrh,
I should blame myself
But I blame her.

Forgiveness could
Lift up my eyes
To whence my help comes from
But I prefer the warmth of lies:
The dark deceiver’s song.

Yet friendship enters
Through my porch
And laughter lights my prison
Loves light brings clarity like a torch
And changes old, poor decisions.

There’s always hope,
There’s alway faith,
There’s always love remaining;
So this poor sinner
Changes his ways –
Casts the burden of life’s straining.

I say, “Yes!” to peace
I say, “Yes!” to rest
And I lay my old yoke down;
With lightness of fresh found freedom
I don a new and glorious crown.

Now each step I take is Service
From Daybreak’s dawn to Eve’s sweet end
Each fast I break – a Communion
With much beloved friends.

Poem: The Velvet Path

I slid

Down

The velvet path

Into

The Soft Embrace of

Hypnos.

God

I need

Such Slumbers.

These stolen moments

Of forgetfulness

Pay sweet dividends,

Deep dreams that

Mock the Dark

And spit upon

Exhaustion.

Then

Swimming

To the surface,

I break

The spell.