By Charles Robert Lindholm
I Often Wonder
Poems, poets, poetry, writing, poetry challenges
This is dedicated to all survivors of the black serpent of depression and those now in its terrible grip.
May you find peace, love, light, and freedom. Know that you aren’t alone, and that you are loved.
The Black Serpent
The black serpent
Cunning and vicious
Strikes quickly
Or patiently
Pulls me in
An inch at a time.
Fangs pump poison
Self-loathing, fear,
Shame, and doubt.
Alone again on this cold, dark, curb
Shivering in the rain
Waiting out the endless night
Engulfed by pain and shame
Soaked shoes make dams in the gutter
The stream, like life, rushes by
Indifferent to my existence
Too busy to care why I cry
Rain pounds my hatless head
A mighty sea on a broken shore
Magnifies my grief to the point
I can barely breathe anymore
I know too well what it’s like
To linger on the jagged edge
Of the deep and dark abyss.
I’ve felt its powerful pull
And heard its siren song.
“Give up! Give in!
You can end your pain and shame.
There’s no need to suffer anymore.”
But even during my darkest days
When hope was a distant memory
I knew even then the abyss would lose.