My mind has run aground today;
as blackness folds around my soul.
I've lost the words with which I play -
the splintered fragments of my whole.

To bind the bits of broken life
as blindness overcomes one's sight
will lead to suicidal strife -
beleaguered benediction's blight!

Procure no promise past its due;
deny deceit in life and death,
then bid your days a fond adieu
when you draw down your final breath.

The blackest holes are here on earth
(remiss almighty space has been)
where darkness dictates whimsy's worth
while man is judged from sin to sin.

At midnight tears through fears are shed -
the bed, sweat soaked, from sheet to core.
From nightmare visions I have fled
despair's foul dreams from distant shore.

Alone outside, upon the lawn,
my gaze ablaze in great expanse -
I am the petrified white pawn,
I dance the puppet-master's dance.

We freely form our attitude
as product of prodigious years;
then comes the lock of lassitude
to mitigate those mental gears.

Depression's depth is drowning me,
words fail to free my mind from pain.
I search to find simplicity
where loss is measured gain to gain.

Some say we play inside our head:
"Just deem the darkness be the light -
climb out of your self-pity bed
to fight the right and fearless fight."

To those of such nobility,
who in their lives have never faced
the loss of their own dignity
from shame that leaves a soul disgraced,

I say to you beware, my friend,
of all great things you think you know
for you may break one day not bend
and watch the dark consume your glow.

I hope and pray you all remain
within the borders of the "bell"
but learn to understand the pain
of fellow traveler's tortured hell.