Todays post is a free-verse poem for which I gained second place in my writers group, Hibiscus Coast Writers, competition. Kudos to my son Josh who advised me on structure.
Never Alone
I am never alone, never without The Voice in my head.
Like rustling reeds on the river-bank, whispering
A sinister stream of contemptuous gibberish –
I know you, I am you.
You yearn to float yet you’re snagged in debris,
Tangled in weeds, boulders in your head,
Coated in moss, gathering no traction,
Going nowhere.
Cast adrift in a river of doubt, on currents of confusion, I despair
Of this susurrus in my ear. Drowning
Beneath the flotsam of condemnation, I struggle to stay afloat,
The under-tow forever dragging me deeper.
Out! Damn voice.
Out, I say.
Out!
I am never alone, never without The Voice in my head.
Like a scurrilous scorpion piercing my ear,
A taunter, a raver, a thought enslaver,
Berating, belittling –
You and me, same species we be.
You’re a fraud, a faker, not a move-maker.
You’re naive to believe thatyou can achieve
Greatness. Noxiously naive and woefully
Weak with no sting in your tail,
You are doomed to fail.
Release me from these pinching pincher’s,
I wail. Leave me alone, I moan,
Grant me peace from your ominous drone.
The sniping never stops.
Out! Damn voice.
Out, I say.
Out!
I am never alone, never without The Voice in my head.
Like a cumbersome Python, hissing in my ear
This slow-moving predator squeezes
My soul, suffocates my sanity,
Odiously hissing –
You and I, both shed our scaly skins,
Exposing our vulnerability, unveiling our degraded selves within.
Legless, we slither and slide, writhe and coil.
Camouflaged by undergrowth,
Spitting self-serving vindictive wrath,
Treacherous belief.
Wrestling in pain against the puncturing
Brutal fangs, my ribs are crushed,
Constricting my breathing, no blood reaching my brain,
Into darkness, I faint, awaiting death.
The venom never stops.
Out! Damn voice.
Out, I say.
Out!
A New Chapter 