Original DDE™ surrealistic art: “Me & You” by: rob kistner © 11/29/23
The Secret
what I said was
don’t touch
go away
leave me be
while inside
I cried out
draw near
stay with me
you are light
you are pure
you are joy
you are free
I am not
I am dark
I am beast
can’t you see
without you
there is much
you can’t know
about me
The Revelation
I lived at the light’s edge
that pooled in the night
on the bleak back streets
of the sad brokenhearted
I hid in the anguish
of the loveless who cowered
in the dark nightmare alleys
of the lost and forgotten
I fed on the grief
of the mourners who wailed
for their horrific loss
in the ruins of death
this was my heartscape
black as mid-winter night
a lightless horizon
no glimmer of hope
trusting was toxic
no foothold for love
relations were carnage
scattered lifeless and cold
The Change
’til a beautiful being
eyes brilliant and true
approached from afar
bearing tinder of love
She showed me
I was paralyzed
by the giving in
the giving up
caught in anguish
with the loss of belief
when grip lets go of dreams
a graceful relationship
deftly ignited
and patiently tended
the fire gently stoked
afraid to come forward
I held outside the glow
but your kindness drew me
we stood by the blaze
with passion it roared
its light pierced my blackness
its heat thawed my soul
my cold heart was warmed
The Healing
you wrapped yourself ‘round me
gazed into my eyes
your giving kiss soft and serene
was the essence of healing
with you in my life
I am darkness removed
soaring and weightless
radiant and rising
vital and caring
my spirit’s renewed
illuminated wholly
by a new dawn of dreams
my essence is healed
Original DDE™ surrealistic diptych: “Dawn of New Dreams”
by: rob kistner © 11/29/23
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rob kistner © 2023
Poetry at: dVerse
I invite you to partake of this Peter Gabriel experience.
I can envision this as a sort of Beauty and the Beast tale, Rob. I’m so pleased you enjoyed the prompt!
Those 37 years ago, it was definitely a beauty and a Dark Beast thing Merril. Loved the prompt. It’s simple but positive focus coming here in the Thanksgiving/Christmas seadon has inspired me to begin a few more poems. Thanks for the gentle inspiration my friend… 🙂
What a blessed gift, that kiss… it could (and should) mend so much that is broken.
That was 37 years ago Björn — and it did my friend… 🙂
I really like the form and layout of this poem, Rob, that takes the reader through the stages of a relationship. The way you describe the revelation is particularly evocative, and these lines resonate with me:
‘I lived at the light’s edge
that pooled in the night
on the bleak back streets
of the sad brokenhearted’
and
‘this was my heartscape
black as mid-winter night
a lightless horizon
no glimmer of hope’
but then the glimmer of hope appears!
That was a tale of me 37 years ago, but my Kathy showed up, and drove that dark beast away. Now I fascinate with darkness for the sake of writing, but I am personally no longer living in that darkness. I still like the occasional feeling of melancholy, I think perhaps, because it reminds me of the fact that I have much to be joyful for in my life — and it can be an interesting place from which to write.