Silence beats louder than a drum.The waves of its tenor, crash against the walls of my inner sanctum.The silence seeks to blow apart my mind.Tranquillity within it, is hard to find.My sight is blinded by the images in my head.Filling me with confusion, fear and dread.I try to catch my breath, I try find room for air.Beyond all the confusion there's little room to spare.I need to break water, I need to surface, how else will I survive.I need to reach the top, to make it, to feel alive.Too much pulling me down, I can't seem to reach.The surface of these murky waters, I can't seem to breach.Shouting, calling for some help. Anybody please. If it weren't for this water I'd be on my knees. I'd be praying, "God please rescue me."But waves pound me to the bottom repeatedly.I cry for assistance, for a helping hand.Anyone come save me, try to understand.My feet won't move, I can't find my way forward.My arms are heavy and keep dragging me backward.Heartbeat fading, little by little.Lungs crushing and leaking, breath full by breath full.Water seeping in, giving me little room to breathe.Eyes are struggling to see.But wait, a flash and something appears.Like a bright sun under in the waters of my fears.Squinting, I strain to see.Unbelievably shocked, how can it be?I can sense I'm fading into the eternal dark.I can sense the cold surround me, reaching to my heart.Losing the battle, much longer, it can't go on.The underwater sun will probably soon be gone.Enclosed by the darkness, my hope seems in tatters.But with such force, the ugly depth shatters.The sun bursts through like a ball of fire.The water fading bit by bit - it starts to retire.Coolness of the blackness disappearing in the wind.Yes, I feel a breeze now flowing from deep within.Taking with it my sorrows, my hurt, my pain.Freeing me from the depths to which I was chained.I look for the sun, the rescue I received.But no longer a sun I see.In its place I find a hand holding onto mine.A friend that came to my aid, in my darkest time.Pulling me from the depths to which I was confined.Rescuing me, my lungs and heart and soul from a flat line.Standing beyond the shadow of my personal sun.More glowing bodies, sun after sun, after sun.Friends all reaching to me, guiding me forth.Comfort embracing me, my troubles are no more.Whispers in the breeze. Reassurances and love.Voices coming to me from everywhere, even from above.Calming and sure it says, "Don't worry I am there.""I heard you and came to you, I heard your every prayer."Grateful and alive I do truly now feel.My heartbeat recovered, my lungs have healed.Air fills them, and I know that I'm okay.My voice found, "Thank You," is all I can say.
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This was no prompt but rather a poem I wrote years ago, and by years I mean more than 10 + years. I was going through a lot, grief, challenging times where my father's mental health was going through a dark time too. But thankfully I had some amazing people around me who pulled me through it. This poem was written in part as a tribute to those friends, as well as a testament to what I'd overcome, what I'd been through. Who knows maybe some of you can relate to it. Maybe you haven't found that personal sun, or suns. Just don't forget to look. They come in the most surprising ways and at the most unexpected times. And a word of encouragement. Better days are ahead.
Sending love.
Big thanks go out to @RyloMedia aka Ryan Loughlin for making this beautiful image available on Upsplash!!!
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Breath after Breath, Bits and Pieces of Me
PoetryA collection of my own poetry, short stories and the like.. Let me take you on a unabashed journey through my soul.. Take a look inside the chambers of my heart and uncover what lay beneath the depths.. Note credit for the cover photograph goes to t...