Shadows are creeping from the deep
abyss swallowing us
one by one like little lost sheep
unwary of the puss
of evil slithering
of lightness withering
and foolish dithering
while you are sleeping
shadows are creeping!
My maladies have stepped out from the shadows.
They stand a few feet away, staring, silent, patient.
I used to believe that what I ignored did not exist —
that if I did not give them my attention, they would dissolve.
But they have banded together,
a quiet council of reminders,
showing me that absence of sight does not mean absence of being.
They are still here.
Their presence is not a threat,
but a call to responsibility.
To turn away would invite ruin,
to face them is to live with truth.
I see them now,
not as my whole self,
but as companions I must acknowledge,
because left unattended,
they can destroy.
And so I will not pretend blindness.
I will meet their stare with awareness,
because even in silence,
they exist.
As stars close their tired eyes
when darkness fades the day
they slip slowly out of sight
and cloud-shrouded yesterday's
no more in play
say goodbye to a watercolour sky
the rain washed away
O say can you see morning has broken
raising the curtain to curtail night
daily they do it that way before we've woken
and all the king's horses and all the king's men
by the crack of dawn’s early light
will pick up the pieces
and put sunup together again
as each sunrise creeping comes calling
over the window sill
lifting the fragments to rebuild morn
so a new tomorrow can keep crawling
'til it is newly reborn
Hiding in plain sight,
Cloaked by light,
Shining just right,
Creeping through my dark night,
Clearing away the blight,
Fighting to get free,
So I can shine brightly,
Teaching what I came to be,
Reaching out so you can see,
My entity spans eternity,
My energy collectively intertwined,
Within this universal mind,
Here to help you find,
The reason you were designed.
A magical mastermind,
Creating your own being to get behind,
To become aligned with the light you shine.
A leaf, curled and crimson,
bends beneath branches,
burdened by cold and creeping chaos.
Blood leaking from my nose,
A probable prologue to my death.
And it blows.
The lows,
Lately I’ve been peaking at my lows.
A dishonourable rest forever forebodes.
My heart keeps faking pounds and it shows,
Why boy are you a “shy boy”?
Wear a lie boy but it seems that they know.
Fashionable is not tolerable,
Your best however,
Your best just can’t keep up with the woes.
The worst lies heap upon lies,
Until the truth is a memory disposed.
Tomorrow costs an arm and a leg,
Temperance must foster within your mind to maintain your growth.
The days over,
Night comes with dark creeping at my neck.
My temperament lost,
It’s not easy to find the might to compose.
You fight though because tomorrow is close.
You fight,
Tomorrow is close.
Trust the pass,
Trust the path and endure the stress.
Give in and rest,
Forget the past just to regret the joke.
More or less dangle above grass,
Ensure your silhouette glides,
Endure the last breaths before you choke.
A probable prelude to my death,
The last breaths before the doze into rest.
What a joke.
Age creeps up in subtle ways,
Beyond the wrinkles or the grays,
A loss of tolerance and spark
And choosing to stay in the dark
When new technology appears,
Which would require switching gears.
A mind, once sharp, now letting go
Of things it always used to know.
A tiredness which settles in
Where second winds would once begin.
But mostly knowing, like a curse,
That things will just keep getting worse.
Each memory of you
Pays every pain due.
A hurt I tried to erase
But it's etched in my heart to my last days.
It's just like yesterday
Picturing how you were held
With every emotion propelled
Time slows as the clock ticks away.
I see you laugh hard
To a familiar joke as if never heard.
I see the devil dancing in his eyes
And you surrendered to a hand twice my size.
Can I just walk past
To save my heart a stitch?
But no, this creeping past
Is shadowing every light cast.
It seems
A sadness creeping in
An errant breeze
Bereft of ocean scent
More an idle odor
Mercilessly meandering
Tingeing all
With its turbid touch
Recalling
From the depth of joy
A hidden angst
A faded scar-like distress
Painless
Yet
Somehow
Calling attention
To itself
i've tried to express my fears
the inescapable end to you
i'm trying now, but am i clearly getting through
it's not suicide i'm thinking of
it's just the unknown
crawling through the night
creeping down the hall
in my hot impulsive stirrings of yesterday
i've traveled many nights to be with others
borrowed money and shifted blame
to anything i could imagine, whether it was real or not
it's just that the unknown
crawling through the night
creeping down the hall
is more than I alone can stand
i needed someone, i needed you
to share my fears
and cool my stirrings
and bring me full circle, into the light
to reveal the unknowns
sending them down the hall
crawling and creeping to their own
inescapable end
C2023 Thomas Lee Rhymes March 25. 2023
throw my shoes away
and my panties too
no one wants them used
when death comes creeping through
throw out my furniture
but keep my dogs
the cat is gone
there are no more logs
throw out my jewelry and my clutch
it is all worthless pretty much
but don’t torch the house or TV
because this is your inheritance from me
The poetry section has a crazy short limit on characters so my piece had to be posted as a short story.
https://www.poetrysoup.com/short_stories/creeping_studies_9422
Thanks for reading!
Creeping gripping fear,
Veiled by the sheets of the night,
Phantom stranger lurks by.
The shadows were creeping like golden summer,
Upon arising covertly, from crimson dawn mists,
And they shrank at noon to a realm just under,
Then idly resumed, their daring sunshine risks,
'Til plum twilight, and a kingdom they'd missed!
Written on August 11, 2021
For: A BRIAN STRAND 4 or 5 line Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Brian Strand
Climate change is like
cancer which can be creeping
while awake of sleeping
what we did describe
were our thoughts about a tribe
who should not imbibe
while lying in bed
disease seemed to spread and spread
we did become dead
what we suggested
should always be well rested
then can be tested
Trump is an old crank
should be forced to walk the plank
to bottom he sank
what we always say
all the way with USA
lives on line will lay
brain size of thimble
Trump can cause us to tremble
moron resemble
had been big backslap
would cause a major mishap
forgot to fill gap
strong has been my head
is what I would always dread
so did sin instead
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