To a demon risen from the depths of hell I would like to compare thee But no words really lend themselves to tell What you did and how it affected me
How you left me wounded, scarred and branded Tell how you stole my energy and life Though you pass as human undetected You smothered all my passion, strength and drive
You can live freely and never be condemned Never have to stand accused of abuse As many monsters you will be forgotten Whereas I am seen as weird and twisted
As a perpetrator you will remain unknown Until the day I as a poet become known
I wrote the first version of this sonnet in Swedish as part of an assignment for one of my creative writing classes about a week ago. Then I decided it was worth trying to translate it. The original has a strict rhyme scheme and lines alternating between hendecasyllable and pentameter. The translation however does not, as I decided the content was more important than the form or rhyming. So there are some rhyming lines and some unrhymed. The lines vary between seven and twelve syllables.
Still I’m happy with finally translating a text from one of my classes and proud of this version and its content. Tonight I will read it on Open Link LIVE – November Edition at dVerse.
Abandoned and abused, I grew to fear you But in truth, I where reared by you
Bullied as other, ostracized by my peers Alone with daily jeers, leers and snears Childhood and adolescence, year after year Branding me as strange and queer
Yours the only company to keep me near Convincing me I’m a mere shadow Not really alive, not supposed to be here
Developed intimate knowledge of all your tiers As loneliness you have tooth and claws that tear Lead chains that trust steer Forged by every untruth spear Betrayal heart and soul sear Invisible barriers separating, from those you hold dear
Dark lonely nights your visits I fear Haunted hours filled with tears Leaving me hollow and sheer As pale dawn washes the heavens clear
After becoming a mother, I’ve started to befriend you, we’re Old pals, whatever the history, that’s clear Nowadays I even hold our moments dear Filled with new knowledge, hope and trust I’ll never again from my own side veer
All that I seek I can find within my own heart soul sphere
Loneliness has been much on my mind and in my feelings the last couple of weeks. Both the kind is need and seek. And the kind that can make me feel wholly alone in a room full of people.
So this poem is this week’s archive find.
Enjoy!
This piece where not something I wished to write, but perhaps needed to write, as whatever I thought about the subject solitude – that I express both it and loneliness quite often – got drowned out by this piece rhymes running in loops in my mind.
In the prompt Björn writes; In today’s situation of social distancing, we all have taken a crash course in loneliness, and when learning to cope. Today I would like you to write about your own experience with how you find strength in solitude or how you still struggle with loneliness.
Many faceted kaleidoscopic gem Sparkling all wavelengths of light Fiery passion interlaced with dark mayhem Light and dark in a perpetual fight
Sparkling all wavelengths of light Complex weave, carefully crafted hologram Light and dark in a perpetual fight Between bright joy and dank sorrows dam
Complex weave, carefully crafted hologram Hiding behind social media. All’s fine! Between bright joy and dank sorrows dam Secretly thinking about hastening lifes deadline
Hiding behind social media. All’s fine! Feeling there’s neither love nor care to find Secretly thinking about hastening lifes deadline Stuck in a flashback looping mind
Feeling there’s neither love nor care to find Bullied to believe there’s shame to authentically be Secretly thinking about hastening lifes deadline Despairing of hope to ever fly free
Bullied to believe there’s shame to authentically be Not knowing the peace of safe love Despairing of hope to ever fly free Searching for the guidance of a Phoenix dove
Not knowing the peace of safe love Fiery passion interlaced with dark mayhem Searching for the guidance of a Phoenix dove Many faceted kaleidoscopic gem
Today’s poem is inspired by all three pieces of art. It’s an effort to put words on how it is to live with depression, complex PTSD, and every other traumatic rewiring of my mind.
Written in one of those interwoven forms I like so much – Pantoum. This is the first time I’ve written a longer version than the standard four verses. At first I did not intend a Pantoum, but after having written the first four stanzas (or first verse) I realized that’s where I was going. Neither did I intend a long one. That happened due to flow, rhythm, stanzas enough to make it a coherent whole.
Marcel Herms
A Dutch visual artist. He is also one of the two men behind the publishing house Petrichor. Freedom is very important in the visual work of Marcel Herms. In his paintings he can express who he really is in complete freedom. Without the social barriers of everyday life.
There is a strong relationship with music. Like music, Herms’ art is about autonomy, freedom, passion, color and rhythm. You can hear the rhythm of the colors, the rhythm of the brushstrokes, the raging cry of the pencil, the subtle melody of a collage. The figures in his paintings rotate around you in shock, they are heavily abstracted, making it unclear what they are doing. Sometimes they look like people, monsters, children or animals, or something in between. Sometimes they disappear to be replaced immediately or to take on a different guise. The paintings invite the viewer to join this journey. Free-spirited.
He collaborates with many different authors, poets, visual artists and audio artists from around the world and his work is published by many different publishers.
www.marcelherms.nlwww.uitgeverijpetrichor.nl
Christine O’ConnorIs an artist working in glass, metal, fibre and paint. Sometimes her work is based on photographs, but more often, she creates in the moment. She loves to play with texture and colour.
Christine O'Connor
Inky black, her nightly travel track Hopelessness all luminescence lack Ancient lore, by all who has gone before Depression’s demons lonely souls adore Cold sorrow, haunting dreams of tomorrow Unloved child, cutting pain in bone and marrow
Fiery passion, smothered without compassion No freedom to create in whatever fashion Bright love, fading to embers without the care it behooves Lost without the moon’s brightness above Hope dart, as sudden kindness heal a hurt heart Stars glimmer as dark clouds depart
Warm trust, swells in the arms of lust Surrender to soul guidance we must Sunrise’s clarion call, there’s hope for us all Chance to rise again after a fall Fear ended, trauma shattered mind mended Rise like a true abuse ascender
The world according to RedCat 