temet nosce
Become a
Premium Member
and post notes and photos about your poem like Gregory Richard Barden.
“I have dreamed a dream … and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.” (Daniel 2:3)
~
TEMET NOSCE
that place …
I know it not -
now, then or ever
the darkness that dwells there
harbors a beast that
I dare not acknowledge or tempt -
that leaps in an instant to
a parody of rage,
and a character of revulsion …
from man to monster in
the blink of lashes
disconnected and beyond the
sway of common sense
or even lucidity …
I recognize it only for its unparalleled ire and
stark, unrelenting savagery
a thick, black, oily realm of mad monstrosities
that spring from the depths to devour
without conscience or care
in undiluted iniquity
I have …
no understanding of it -
oh, I have wondered endlessly about its
source, its meaning, its origin
but answers are light years apart from the
reach of my emotional grasp
it is not mine
it is not id or of any clear cognition
it is not borne of anything I recognize or see
it is as foreign to me as death itself
and years of examination
have not brought the brute any closer
to the realm of Me …
I despise its hideous face
its mirrored gaze
it’s fetid flesh
and its deceitful, ragged fury
and yet …
what unnerves me most -
what brings the cold damp to my skin and the
horrid shudder to my spine
is that it hides -
desperate for breath and bite,
unknown and unbidden
(and horridly alive)
in the chaotic, darkened depths
of a sweet, sanguine
soul …
my own.
Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden | Year Posted 2025
Post Comments
Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.
Please
Login
to post a comment