POETRY
Living expressions of inner work. Offered as a glimpse of the process towards radical self-acceptance, healing, and growth.
With You
something
must be wrong
with you
how else
would you
see worth
in me
something
must be wrong
with you
how else
would you
see worth
in me
This poem is from the book Bound To The Wings Of A Butterfly
The God Of Gluttony
Grimy, gross, and greasy,
The god of gluttony gesticulates gladly,
‘Eat me, enjoy me, immerse yourself in me.
For I am what you want.
For I am what you desire’.
Guilt and pleasure stand side by side,
Beckoning you to consume more.
The delicious poison tempts,
Tantalises, and teases your tastebuds.
Tactically taunting,
Telling your tummy that it's almost time.
Quickly,
You take your first bite and think,
‘Meh it’s alright’.
But then it hits you,
The cravings pull you in.
The voice of reason says,
‘No, never, no more, no way, not again!’
But you can’t stop.
It’s already too late.
It’s got you.
You're hooked,
Addicted,
Dependant,
Strung out.
Your family and friends begin to fret.
With added fervour they furiously try to force
feed you fantastically fresh fruit.
This attempt is frivolous,
The fructose filled feast fails.
You feign interest and say,
‘Fair thee well’.
For your heart, mind, and soul will now, and forever be, a consumer.
The fast food has you.
It's yours and you’re its.
An unholy matrimony,
A marriage of consumption,
And you don't want a divorce.
Till death do you part.
So, act now or forever hold your peace.
Grimy, gross, and greasy,
The god of gluttony gesticulates gladly,
‘Eat me, enjoy me, immerse yourself in me.
For I am what you want.
For I am what you desire’.
Guilt and pleasure stand side by side,
Beckoning you to consume more.
The delicious poison tempts,
Tantalises, and teases your tastebuds.
Tactically taunting,
Telling your tummy that it's almost time.
Quickly,
You take your first bite and think,
‘Meh it’s alright’.
But then it hits you,
The cravings pull you in.
The voice of reason says,
‘No, never, no more, no way, not again!’
But you can’t stop.
It’s already too late.
It’s got you.
You're hooked,
Addicted,
Dependant,
Strung out.
Your family and friends begin to fret.
With added fervour they furiously try to force
feed you fantastically fresh fruit.
This attempt is frivolous,
The fructose filled feast fails.
You feign interest and say,
‘Fair thee well’.
For your heart, mind, and soul will now, and forever be, a consumer.
The fast food has you.
It's yours and you’re its.
An unholy matrimony,
A marriage of consumption,
And you don't want a divorce.
Till death do you part.
So, act now or forever hold your peace.
This poem is from the book Bound To The Wings Of A Butterfly
You Say
You say you love me,
But you don’t know me,
Not the full me,
Not every part of me,
Not as I really am.
You say I should open up,
That I should share,
That I should let you in,
Into my inner world,
Into my mind, my emotions, my everything.
You say you will accept me,
But that’s a lie,
You don’t know me,
Not all of me,
Not the parts you haven’t seen.
Do you know yourself well enough?
How will you react to me?
What will you do when I show you?
What will you think of my darkness?
My pain? My weaknesses? My desires?
No.
You only accept the parts you’ve seen.
Then you make assumptions,
Of yourself,
And of me.
That I’m not that bad,
That there isn’t much more,
That embarrassment holds me back,
That you can save me,
And that you would want to.
It is safer to hide,
To show a just little,
Just the parts that are acceptable,
The parts I have practiced,
The parts that work.
You don’t love me,
You just love those parts,
You just love the surface,
Your love hasn’t touched the depths,
It never will.
You say you love me,
But you don’t know me,
Not the full me,
Not every part of me,
Not as I really am.
You say I should open up,
That I should share,
That I should let you in,
Into my inner world,
Into my mind, my emotions, my everything.
You say you will accept me,
But that’s a lie,
You don’t know me,
Not all of me,
Not the parts you haven’t seen.
Do you know yourself well enough?
How will you react to me?
What will you do when I show you?
What will you think of my darkness?
My pain? My weaknesses? My desires?
No.
You only accept the parts you’ve seen.
Then you make assumptions,
Of yourself,
And of me.
That I’m not that bad,
That there isn’t much more,
That embarrassment holds me back,
That you can save me,
And that you would want to.
It is safer to hide,
To show a just little,
Just the parts that are acceptable,
The parts I have practiced,
The parts that work.
You don’t love me,
You just love those parts,
You just love the surface,
Your love hasn’t touched the depths,
It never will.
This poem is from the book Bound To The Wings Of A Butterfly
How Is It?
How is it
That all I get
For all my time
Is so little money?
How is it
That all I get
For all my time
Is so little money?
This poem is from the book Wage Slave, The Unpaid Overtime Edition
Maybe
If I sit here
Long enough
Maybe
I’ll have the strength
To stand
If I sit here
Long enough
Maybe
I’ll have the strength
To stand
This poem is from the book Wage Slave, The Unpaid Overtime Edition
I Let It Go and Just Feel
I hear you in the lyrics of a song.
I feel you in the kiss of cold wind.
I see you in a starry night sky.
I taste you in a bite of sweet fruit.
I smell you in an ocean breeze.
I sense you deep within.
I have received all I asked of you and more.
Yet doubt continues to haunt me.
Expectations cloud your true nature.
You are not what others say.
Words cannot convey the
Intricacy of your message.
Emotion, feeling and intuition
Serve you better.
You talk in subtlety and rhyme.
Gentle guidance that’s often overlooked.
Saying not what I want to hear,
But what I need to.
I follow as best I can,
I’m sorry for my failures.
I stand at the edge of a cliff.
Please catch me,
Help me to fly.
I let it go and just feel.
I hear you in the lyrics of a song.
I feel you in the kiss of cold wind.
I see you in a starry night sky.
I taste you in a bite of sweet fruit.
I smell you in an ocean breeze.
I sense you deep within.
I have received all I asked of you and more.
Yet doubt continues to haunt me.
Expectations cloud your true nature.
You are not what others say.
Words cannot convey the
Intricacy of your message.
Emotion, feeling and intuition
Serve you better.
You talk in subtlety and rhyme.
Gentle guidance that’s often overlooked.
Saying not what I want to hear,
But what I need to.
I follow as best I can,
I’m sorry for my failures.
I stand at the edge of a cliff.
Please catch me,
Help me to fly.
I let it go and just feel.
This poem is from the book Words On A Page
Looking In
I close my eyes.
Where once there was vividness
There is now a vague blur.
Stories and visions intermingle
A kaleidoscope of confusion.
Words and non-words alike
Are spoken and responded to.
The allure of reality is lost,
Replaced by the bliss of the abyss.
The joy of not knowing
Is ever more tempting.
Closing my eyes to avoid it all,
To get to where release was once felt.
But no more.
The avalanche of memory greets me.
I cannot escape the pain inside.
I long to let it go.
To let it all go.
I close my eyes.
Where once there was vividness
There is now a vague blur.
Stories and visions intermingle
A kaleidoscope of confusion.
Words and non-words alike
Are spoken and responded to.
The allure of reality is lost,
Replaced by the bliss of the abyss.
The joy of not knowing
Is ever more tempting.
Closing my eyes to avoid it all,
To get to where release was once felt.
But no more.
The avalanche of memory greets me.
I cannot escape the pain inside.
I long to let it go.
To let it all go.
This poem is from the book Words On A Page
Reflections
The world is a mirror to your soul,
Your happiness will be shown
On the faces of strangers,
Your fear will flicker in their eyes,
Your hope will express itself
In the poetry you read, as too will your ills.
The mirror rejects what you are not,
Thus the world will always be you,
In this way you are trapped,
Rejecting love when you need it most,
And the advice you most need to hear.
Yet you are not stagnant,
And neither is the mood of the world,
What happens in one, distorts the other,
Words can scratch, and actions can crack,
So keep a watch on its surface,
And a polishing rag in hand.
Realise that the mirror is in fact imperfect,
Subject to change, manipulation and control,
Those reflections are more than phantasms,
They have a force that can break.
So watch the mirror,
Be on guard against its influence,
But also influence your guard,
For your actions may inadvertently
Shatter someone’s soul.
The world is a mirror to your soul,
Your happiness will be shown
On the faces of strangers,
Your fear will flicker in their eyes,
Your hope will express itself
In the poetry you read, as too will your ills.
The mirror rejects what you are not,
Thus the world will always be you,
In this way you are trapped,
Rejecting love when you need it most,
And the advice you most need to hear.
Yet you are not stagnant,
And neither is the mood of the world,
What happens in one, distorts the other,
Words can scratch, and actions can crack,
So keep a watch on its surface,
And a polishing rag in hand.
Realise that the mirror is in fact imperfect,
Subject to change, manipulation and control,
Those reflections are more than phantasms,
They have a force that can break.
So watch the mirror,
Be on guard against its influence,
But also influence your guard,
For your actions may inadvertently
Shatter someone’s soul.
This poem is from the book Words On A Page
A Mirror
A mirror reflects differently,
Backwards, reversing your stare.
What's dark out here is light in there.
With pain on my face I look away.
Make it stop! Get rid of it, now! Today!
I peel away the face off my skin.
My mask is gone, the blackness glares, Tunneling further in.
Digging, chewing, boring its way deeper.
I fall to my knees, feeling hollow and weaker.
The bridge in my dreams,
Becomes the place I take flight.
This is where it ends,
Now, this night.
Bound and restricted, both heavy and light.
My mind and body have all but lost the fight.
Will a light come to save me?
Or forsaken will I remain,
Alone and insane?
A mirror reflects differently,
Backwards, reversing your stare.
What's dark out here is light in there.
With pain on my face I look away.
Make it stop! Get rid of it, now! Today!
I peel away the face off my skin.
My mask is gone, the blackness glares, Tunneling further in.
Digging, chewing, boring its way deeper.
I fall to my knees, feeling hollow and weaker.
The bridge in my dreams,
Becomes the place I take flight.
This is where it ends,
Now, this night.
Bound and restricted, both heavy and light.
My mind and body have all but lost the fight.
Will a light come to save me?
Or forsaken will I remain,
Alone and insane?
This poem is from the book Words On A Page
Sorry My Boy
Sorry my boy
I’ve got something to do
And unfortunately
It doesn’t involve you
Sorry my boy
I don’t have the time to chat
I’m too busy
But you know that
Sorry my boy
I can’t play right now
There is too much on
I’ve done as much as my schedule will allow
Hey my boy
I’m finally free
Want to hang out
Just you and me?
Sorry my dad
I’ve got too much on
With my work and my mates
My time is all gone
Sorry my boy
I’ve got something to do
And unfortunately
It doesn’t involve you
Sorry my boy
I don’t have the time to chat
I’m too busy
But you know that
Sorry my boy
I can’t play right now
There is too much on
I’ve done as much as my schedule will allow
Hey my boy
I’m finally free
Want to hang out
Just you and me?
Sorry my dad
I’ve got too much on
With my work and my mates
My time is all gone
This poem is from the book Wage Slave, The Unpaid Overtime Edition