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Quit My Dreams

Get out you feral ghost, never come back..
quit haunting I pray, depart my poor mind.
Faultless in features, vain visage you lack,
eyes lost to yesterday, while mine so blind.

Wandering my dream's rooms, just as before,
not persuaded to move on to new light.
Sway like swishing brooms, peering out soul's door..
knowing faithless fears before yours took flight.

Unsettled love affairs widened the rift,
once welcome heart never cared to explain.
No longer vex or taunt my sullied gift,
neither guiltless nor condemned to remain.

Train your last tears toward a howling wind,
'way from tattletale heart longing an end.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2021

Poem

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Krutsinger Avatar
April 28, 2021 at 9:44 PM
This is so true "Wandering my dream's rooms, " makes it real to me, as it is how I picture my own feral ghosts.
Theraven Avatar
May 22, 2021 at 4:41 PM
Hi Caren. Those haunting, those haunted. Were we ever both one and the same? -Richard
Dietrich Avatar
April 7, 2021 at 3:34 PM
The sadness of the words is most haunting and in the music too. How did I miss this one?? I probably have asked this dumb question before, but is this YOUR piano playing? It's so good.
Theraven Avatar
May 22, 2021 at 4:36 PM
Andrea, Yes. I dunno. No. Yes. (clever smile) -Richard
Ligon Avatar
April 5, 2021 at 1:34 PM
Sounds like a painful place to go back to. Enjoyed your powerful penning.
Theraven Avatar
May 22, 2021 at 4:34 PM
Juliet, Thanks for this. It was the most exquisite sort. Ah, though it's all beautiful, even waking to that feeling. You may know it. Like a wrung out dishrag. Happy Saturday to you and your prophetic pen. -Richard
Fowler Avatar
March 26, 2021 at 8:23 AM
Old loves never die, haunting us in deepest thought - hearing the voice, seeing the apparition, feeling the touch. Beautifully written Richard. :) Linda
Theraven Avatar
April 3, 2021 at 3:26 PM
Linda, First, a warm thanks. I really like your word 'apparition' so much more. Though it would chew up so many syllables. A quote on dreams from one I wish was here to interpret there meaning. ~~ “What is common in all these dreams is obvious. They completely satisfy wishes excited during the day which remain unrealized. They are simply and undisguisedly realizations of wishes.” -Sigmund Freud
Jayasankar Avatar
March 24, 2021 at 2:47 AM
A beautiful sonnet though sad, a pain from the past haunting... your words so powerful Richard. God bless. ~ Ani
Theraven Avatar
April 3, 2021 at 3:17 PM
Anitha, Thank you, comes and goes. A voice that scares away all that is kind in the night saying 'please leave your dreams at the door'. -Richard
Rodrigues Avatar
March 22, 2021 at 5:41 PM
The swishing of brooms, desiring to get rid of the wild ghost of the past.
Theraven Avatar
March 23, 2021 at 8:54 PM
Kim, I liked the brooms, expecially the way they swished, once upon a time. -Richard
Eslinger Avatar
March 22, 2021 at 5:39 PM
Absolutely engrossing. Felt quite real to my senses, more like talking to a possible dream before sleep. Thank you for this pen and sharing it.
Theraven Avatar
March 23, 2021 at 8:52 PM
Sally, Thanks for that comment. What's real and what's not; not my specialty, not anymore. -Richard
Laurie Avatar
March 22, 2021 at 4:40 PM
Hello Richard … yesterdays ghost do return in our dreams sometimes serene but sometimes as nightmares - thank you Richard - Lindsay
Theraven Avatar
March 23, 2021 at 8:34 PM
Hello Lindsay, How was your Summer down under? I thought I was long past all that nonsense. Til a woman appeared in one recently I used to know. I can feel her all over again. -Richard
Sands Avatar
March 22, 2021 at 2:20 PM
I can feel this one. Very well written....quit haunting I pray, depart my poor mind. I imagine many can relate to this. I hope you will find peace :)
Theraven Avatar
March 23, 2021 at 8:29 PM
Heidi, Thanks. Do my demons need exercise or do the need exorcised(?) I'll where my tennis shoes just in case. -Richard
Koplin Avatar
March 22, 2021 at 6:44 AM
Pain from the past is always there, it’s hard to move past alone. Thank you for sharing!
Faulkner Avatar
March 21, 2021 at 4:14 PM
Yes we are often haunted by what we can't let go, and the image of faultless features and eyes lost to yesterday makes me think the narrator doesn't want to look at his fear (and loss?) fully, very complex imagery here!
Theraven Avatar
March 21, 2021 at 9:35 PM
Michelle, Thank you for that comment. One sided tracks only go the way they know. Still glad for the ride, always. -Richard
Rose  Avatar
March 21, 2021 at 1:43 PM
We need to move away from the energetic pull of yesterdays ghosts, and onto the future, where we belong, to ourselves : ) your words are a wide open book
Theraven Avatar
March 21, 2021 at 9:20 PM
Mystic Rose Rose, Thank you for that comment, so very perceptive. 'your words are a wide open book'..love that. Wonder how the story ends. -Richard
Pandit Avatar
March 21, 2021 at 6:13 AM
You expelled those feral dreams eloquently my friend. Awesome third stanza: "Unsettled love affairs widened the rift, once welcome heart, never cared to explain. No longer vex or taunt my sullied gift, neither guiltless nor condemned to remain.." I liked the force of your words, Richard.
Theraven Avatar
March 21, 2021 at 8:50 AM
Hello Vijay, Thak you for all your thoughtful comments. I really enjoyed your 'Crepe-myrtle flowers'. 'Opaline glimpses of dreams' - Sich a brilliant dance in your words. I knew the day would come when a word would fly away. You gave it a new freedom. -Richard
Krutsinger Avatar
March 21, 2021 at 12:37 AM
"Wandering my dream's rooms, just as before, not persuaded to move on to new light." I have been here, and it is a loop that never ceases. I felt you were reading my mind Richard.
Theraven Avatar
March 21, 2021 at 8:41 AM
Hello Caren, Thank you for commenting on the rooms. They're fully furnished. I replaced the shag carpet with berber. I also kept the lava lamp. -Richard
Roper Avatar
March 20, 2021 at 8:43 PM
Such a beautiful written verse, Richard, of longing for peace of the past.
Theraven Avatar
March 20, 2021 at 9:54 PM
Hello Eve, I'm glad for this, and gladder for that. -Richard
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