Tuesday, February 14, 2012

A Disconsolate Turns to The Dark Arts for Emotional Support


Tranquility harnessed, by the reigns of fatigue
Birthed by void, cold and terse
Inner-cynics, sparring foot and knee
Balance wavers, so moves forth this curse

Of vapored redress, dark clouds disperse
The covens held, in primal view
A razor shakes, verse to blackened verse
Scratched tongues affirm, each the fears are true

The cauldron’s bewitching path
Its secrets revealed at last
 In highest boil the water finds
Prophecies, both cruel, divine

And standstill you become, paralyses renew
As stake-laid fibers rise again, turning circles will the rope
To tighten knots secure to throat, letting pressure guide its noose
Upon the stains of past, memories faucet empties hope

Paler does the skin then cry, fraying urge faint to cope
As suffocation screams for air, fastest ever beats do start
Strain to push blood’s flow, in this, life’s final trope
First the limbs lilt in languor, and then cede does the broken heart


I thought about composing something especially for Valentine's Day, but instead went this route.  Stop on by to D'Verse for their weekly Open Link Night, read all the great poetry linked up and even link up one of your own.  Pub opens at 3pm.  See you there.

19 comments:

  1. I wonder if someone were to really get 'into' the dark arts, what magic they would really be able to cococt. In as much as I believe in good, I also believe there is great evil too. Kind of if there was no evil, how would we know what was good?
    Deep food for thought here Fred.

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  2. this opened up for you fred and took a more interesting direction than all that love delusion; i'm not a believer in good or evil but i do like to speculate. all the best man - hope your cool is on ;)

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  3. i have kissed a bit of the black arts....way back in the day when i was running from organized religeon and any power that had sway over me...it was a scary time...i know enough to know evil when i see it....

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  4. This just felt so alive for me--and vibrant--Loved it!

    @AudreyHowitt

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  5. bubble, bubble, toil and trouble...FRED! This is freaking awesome! If I may be so bold, what would you think of replacing AND in the fourth line of the third stanza with just a comma...adds to the drama and results in perfect flow (in my reality at least...which is tainted with a heavy blue nose accent, BTW) Love it! (and as an aside...I've closed out more than one show with my version of Dead Horse...but I thought Patience more fitting for the special day...and Sanitarium?Well, that sends me on a trip that I'm not willing to share with any one else...no matter the day!) Oh...and did I mention, you rock! Happy OpenLinkNight Poet!

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    1. I see what you mean, it does add a bit of flow, alters meaning a bit, but that's cool, I like how it can leave interpretation a bit more open in that way. Thanks. Yeah patience probably is a better song for the day. I'd like to hear a female vocalized Dead Horse, I think that would be cool. Thanks

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  6. O I don't know--I've definitely had a few valentine's days like that...last lines are really strong, Fred, and the whole thing atmospheric, heavy as lead and yet it's got that very vital defiance of better bad than dead, too. Enjoyed your take better than many a sweet little love ditty.

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    1. Thanks Hedge, definitely wasn't going for the sweet stuff here, really appreciate the atmospheric angle you took from here, really glad that came through. Thanks

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  7. Really brings about much thought and who knows what those black arts can truly bring about. But I have the feeling you have to believe a bit more than most for them to truly take hold, in which case you use them as an excuse to do evil and therefore they are evil. And one other thing that is evil, the guy in a diaper floating around with arrows. Those things can hurt..haha

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    1. haha, yeah that dude definitely has something evil about him lol

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  8. Wow, Fred. You've certainly captured a dark feel in this. I think there's much to be said about powers we don't understand. We tend to need to see to believe.

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  9. Powerful write and a nice contrast to the gentler offerings.

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  10. I felt the noose tighten on her throat and the last line was powerful for me :

    First the limbs lilt in languor, and then cede does the broken heart...

    Wishing you a happy day ~

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  11. There's a huge amount of dread and terror here. The one who turns to the dark arts seems drained one last time by their desire to capture life in its essence. The psychology of despair comes across so well in the poem. This doesn't celebrate those arts as the consolation sought by the one seeking a deeper richer reality. They're consumed by it, by themselves perhaps, as they search deeper and deeper meaning in darkness, the well-spring of their own despair. Despair seeks to control life, turn it to an image of itself, but when that despair reaches into the silence of evil they find themselves losing what it is they thought they'd find. In some ways, the ending seems like a sacrifice. While it might the ritual asphyxiation of someone else, it also seems to a self-asphyxiation at the same time. I've always thought murder was a form of suicide. That is what your poem reminds me of.

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    1. Charles, great comment. I really appreciate the level of response. Thanks

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  12. I'm glad you went this route. Some great lines in this. And, you always have the coolest titles!

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    1. Thanks MZ, I love titles, so I am so pleased to see you like the titles I come up with, really made my day, thanks

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  13. deep dark and very enjoyable thank you for sharing x

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  14. oh my...you went the dark path...intense and tight write.. and made the hair on my neck stand...

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