Do you still love me

 

The ghost of Christmas Past

 

Blessed be

Velumbound

Do you like listening

to these

lost voices?

Here's another

Sometimes

I look for my twin candle

to see

if it still burns

My soulmate

and gateway

to new worlds

For now

I'm a ghost

of Christmas Past

A sin eater

from dog-eared days

that now

seems to always last

I walk

through schools of thoughts like Archimedes

Remembering

carefully

How things used to be

I still breathe in the sweet musk

Even in this swirling dust

Now I live on where angels fear to tread

Under this black sky

Where I wander and cry

Alone

Now

Why couldn't we make it

After all we've been through

The wars and sweet victories

I know now

I'm a shadow walker

But

if I could

I wouldn't take you for granted

No yellow gold would buy this old soul

Not anything

So if you hear this

Always know...

Even in here

I'll carry you

In this endless cold

To new places and higher kingdoms

For the now dead

Never get old

Blessed be

Velumbound...

(C)

Copyright John Duffy 

Image shared under fair usage policy 

Loss

 

(A lone voice whispers)

There's a great sadness still in me

That reaches from here to the holy sea

Sometimes, I can feel it pushing hard against my hippocampus

Whenever I try to remember us

(C)

Copyright John Duffy 

Image shared under fair usage policy.

The Lone Disciple Speaks

 

(A lone voice whispers)

Are you

Like a lone bottle 

A rare Nebuchadnezzar 

Floating in the middle of the blue sea 

A lonely spirit who can think of no other greater devotion 

Then being the yellow sandy beach

To parts of a seemingly never-ending 

Undulating ocean 

Like a white feather blowing randomly in its four winds 

Filled with emotions 

Are you one of the Blessed who are also the Broken 

Who must endure 

The dark clouds

And waters of damnation 

In slow motion 

The kind who hides in long shadows of commotion 

Those deemed blind and impure by mankind 

But always secretly looking for a cure 

For

Blessed are those who cry out 

For a form of rescue

As life pulses and tests you 

Blessed are the ones who suffer from love withdrawals 

Linked to quarrels of joy and mirth

Here

Hidden 

Just somewhere

On Earth 

For I will make them Most High

Said The Lord 

Blessed are the stranded

Castaways filled with despair 

As they sit there

Crying in silence 

Thinking no one cares

Upstairs 

Blessed are those love torn who shake their fists in fury 

At the watching heavens

Angelic jury's 

Cursing them 

Slowly dying

Feeling cursed 

Before their spirit bursts

And they end up in a shiny black hearse 

You are not alone

For I'm empty in spirit too 

Broken

And I see you 

For

We are kin 

Two strangers

Walking hand in hand 

As these deep occult waters run

Over everything 

Corrupting all they touch

With their insidious sin 

So if you don't know where you belong 

Can't navigate alone 

No place to lay your head

And no heart to call your home 

Take my words and then call my name 

So we can dance together in the pouring rain 

So you're not on your own 

And together

Entwined 

We'll purge our pain 

    

For we are blessed 

Two of

The Lords best 

True survivors

Enduring life 

And all its emotions 

For sometimes in life

Circumstance and fate

Might have built 

High walls to climb 

To reach your souls

Nickels or dimes 

And there's no guilt

To confess

In women or man 

If you feel stranded or split 

Between love and hate 

For The Lord so loved the broken 

And so I have spoken 

Just you wait

One day he'll open up the crimson gates 

Just keep praying

For hope always appears 

When everything seems dark and too late 

For there are some things that sometimes need to be broken 

Such as stubbornness

Pride

And many other sinful habits 

For when we feel lost in our total brokenness

God can build us back 

up 

For

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those

Who are crushed in spirit

(Psalm 34:18)

So if you live in a painful place, but are also contrite with him

There is still hope

Which will miraculously appear to help you cope 

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

One for the slow dance lovers

 

The King of all Darkness

 

Seduction

 Seduction 

(A sweet voice from The Seventies, sings. Can you hear him?)

Hey... Turn those lights down low 

Come a little closer, baby Nice and slow

Let's dance together 

On our own dance floor

Hold me in your arms tonight 

And love me a little more

Move and sway 

To the music playing soft

Like a dream that's floating by 

And carrying us off

Touch me gently 

Let that sweet fire start

Burning through the night

In this heart full of longing

Turn those lights down low 

Don't let this feeling go

Hold me close and never let me go 

Turn those lights down low 

Baby, nice and slow 

Tonight we're lost in the glow

Turn the lights down low 

Let's slow dance across the floor 

Before we kiss 

Like we've never kissed before

Turn the lights down low 

Move a little closer still

For a love like this 

Gives my heart such a thrill

And while the music plays 

We'll hold each other tight

Praying this love is real 

As we dance into the night

Move in closer 

In every little way 

Let's forget tomorrow 

And live for this moment today

Time stands still 

As the record softly spins

One of Teddy's sweet love songs 

And the magic begins

Turn the lights down low 

Let's slow dance across the floor 

Before we kiss 

Like we've never kissed before

Turn the lights down low 

Move a little closer still 

For a love like this 

Can only end in bliss

Can only end in bliss 

Can only end in bliss

Tonight

In bliss

(C)

Copyright John Duffy 

Image shared under fair usage policy.

Loneliness

 

(A lone voice whispers)

Hey you...

It's been a long, long road

Since I walked away

When it was getting real

And I never found the words to say

Hey you

I know I left when it was getting real

And now I finally understand

Exactly how you feel

I've spent some lonely nights

Walking roads I thought I'd own

But every mile I traveled

Just brought me back alone

And the rain keeps falling

On the mistakes I've made

Some memories fade away

But yours refuse to fade

I know I left when it was getting real

And now I know

How you feel

What was ours

Can never be the same

But while we're standing here

Calling each other's name

Maybe time can heal

What pride tore apart

Maybe we can start again

Right where we are

And though the seasons change

Your love still grows in me

Like an old oak tree

By a river running free

We were young

And chasing dreams we couldn't hold

I thought freedom meant leaving

Now freedom just feels cold

The echoes of your laughter

Still linger in these halls

And every little memory

Still hangs upon these walls

If forgiveness has a doorway

I'm standing at the frame

Not asking for forever

Just hoping for your name

I know I left when it was getting real

And now I know

How you feel

What was ours

Can never be the same

But while we're standing here

Calling each other's name

Maybe time can heal

What pride tore apart

Maybe we can start again

Right where we are

And though the seasons change

Your love still grows in me

Like an old oak tree

By a river running free

If tomorrow never brings us

Back to where we used to be

I'll still thank Heaven

For the love you gave to me

And if friendship is the only road

That's left for us to take

I'll walk it with a grateful heart

For old time's sake

 I know I left when it was getting real

And now I know

How you feel

What will be

Will be

That's plain to see

But your love tree

Still grows in me

And every branch reminds me

Of what we used to be

Your love tree

Still grows in me... 

Hey you...

I finally know

How you feel...

"I know I left..." 

"When it was getting real"

"And now I know..."

"How you feel..." 

(C)

Copyright John Duffy 

Image shared under fair usage policy 

What are you looking for?

 (A lone voice whispers)

Tell me…

When the noise finally stops…

When the advertisements no longer speak…

When the glowing screens go black…

When the crowds disappear into their homes…

Who remains with you then?

Who are you…

Without performance?

Without your carefully arranged masks…

Your titles…

Your curated moralities?

For many walk this earth believing they are free…

Yet every movement…

Every opinion…

Every hunger…

Was quietly placed inside them…

By unseen hands.

Families.

Governments.

Religions.

Algorithms.

Tribes.

Invisible architects of the inner cathedral.

And so few ask themselves…

Which thoughts are truly theirs.

For self-knowledge is not comfort.

No…

It is excavation.

The sacred horror of pulling stone away from your own buried face.

To look inward long enough…

Is to eventually encounter contradiction?

Darkness beside light.

Mercy beside cruelty.

Desire beside holiness.

The wolf…

And the lamb…

Drinking from the same black river.

And still…

You continue.

Because somewhere deep within the human spirit…

There exists a longing not even modernity could extinguish.

A yearning for mystery.

For initiation.

For meaning.

For something greater than consumption.

This is why ruins fascinate you.

Why abandoned churches still feel sacred.

Why candlelight softens grief.

Why storms make poets of the lonely.

Why the sea reminds you of eternity.

You were never designed merely to produce…

Consume…

And vanish.

Your soul rejects such small prisons.

And perhaps that is why you are here now…

Listening from some quiet room…

Some sleepless bed…

Some moving train beneath a dying evening sky.

Searching.

Not for certainty…

But for recognition.

To feel seen…

By something unseen.

And maybe the abyss people fear…

Is not death at all.

Maybe it is silence.

For in silence…

There is nowhere left to run.

Only remembrance.

Remembrance of who you were…

Before the world told you who to become.

So light your candle carefully, traveller.

Guard your inner flame from false prophets…

False saviours…

And false selves.

For not every light leads upward.

Some merely illuminate the cage.

Nosce te ipsum.

Know thyself

And if your reflection trembles in the mirror tonight…

Do not be afraid.

Many things awaken…

Once truly observed.

Blessed be.

What will be…

Will be.

Velumbound.

(C)

Copyright John Duffy 

Image shared under fair usage policy 

Relationships

 Senryu

At the very core

Is yearning to be cherished 

Our endless desire

575

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

A poem exploring the fundamental human need for affection, validation, and emotional connection within relationships. 

Universal Truth:

Line 1.

Vulnerability is the foundation of intimacy.

Human Condition:

Line 2.

The pursuit of love is an infinite, lifelong journey.

Emotional Core:

Line 3.

Strip away conflict, and only the need for belonging remains. 

Image shared under fair usage policy.