The Showdown

 

An evocative poem that uses iconic figures of the American Wild West, such as Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, to explore deep heartbreak, trauma, and lingering emotional pain. 

The speaker equates losing love to being struck down by a deadly gunshot in a defining life showdown, leaving them metaphorically surviving like a chronically ill Doc Holliday. 

Ultimately, the piece reflects on existential isolation and the haunting uncertainty of facing a lonely future after such a devastating emotional wound.    

Shall we begin? 

(A lone voice whispers)

I once knew Love

But like a bullet fired from Wyatt Earp's Colt 45

It struck me down in the only showdown of my life

Now I walk around like a reborn, sick Doc Holliday

Wondering 

How alone

I'll finish my play and stay alive 

(C) Copyright John Duffy

Rest in peace. Val Kilmer. 

You live on every time this post is read. Salute. 

The Dance of The Lampyridae

 

This poem is a poignant, elegiac reflection on a monumental love that has ended, moving from intense passion to profound, isolated grief.

It contrasts the warmth of summer/fire with the coldness of winter/shattering, using rich mythological and cinematic references.

Key Themes & Structural Breakdown 

1. The Highs of Passion (The Golden Past)

The poem opens with vibrant, cinematic imagery of a love at its peak.

The Firefly Metaphor:

By comparing the lovers to Lampyridae (fireflies), the poem evokes a natural, magical, and bioluminescent glow.

They do not just watch the light; they are the light.

Intense Heat: 

Phrases like "molten heat," "new fire," and "sensuous fire" emphasise an all-consuming passion that "lit and consumed our auras.

Expansiveness: "Love's panoramic highways" suggests a future that felt endless, open, and full of possibility.

2. The Abrupt Rupture (The Winter Paradox)

The turning point of the poem relies on a sharp, bittersweet irony.

The Anniversary: 

The breakup or loss occurs on December 5th, precisely on the couple's "Oak wedding anniversary" (traditionally celebrating 80 years of marriage, symbolising a lifetime of deep, enduring commitment).

The Subversion of Holiday Imagery: 

The "familiar sound of jingle bells" usually brings joy, but here it serves as an ominous announcement of the "winter of our love season.

"The Shattering: 

The breaking of the spell is compared to the Sword of Elendil (Narsil from Tolkien lore), a mythical weapon that shattered under immense weight. 

This elevates the heartbreak to a tragedy of epic, mythic proportions.

3. The Melancholy Present (Isolation & Nostalgia)

The second half of the poem deals with the aftermath of this loss, defined by a shift from gold/fire to blue/silver.

Cinematic Nostalgia:

The reference to Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth invokes the grace, glamour, and effortless synchronicity of Golden Age Hollywood romance. 

Now, the narrator dances "alone in the silvery moonlight," a stark contrast to their past "molten heat.

"Mental Desolation: 

The poem uses spatial metaphors—"mind's so many labyrinths filled with our hieroglyphs"—to describe grief. 

The memories have become a maze, and their shared language has turned into ancient, unreadable symbols ("hieroglyphs") of a dead civilisation.

4. The Final Descent.

The poem concludes on a dark, existential note.

The phrase "life slowly drifts South" implies a decline in health, warmth, or spirit, culminating in the narrator standing on "Death's high cliff.

The final two lines circle back to the absolute beginning—a bittersweet memory of a bond they believed was divine and "ordained by God's light."

Shall we begin? 

(A lone voice whispers) 

We once danced like the glowing Lampyridae

Bathing in the molten heat of a new fire

While walking hand in hand 

Down love's panoramic highways

Flames of belonging and such sensuous fire 

Lit and consumed our auras

But when the winter of our love season arrived 

With the familiar sound of jingle bells

Announcing our Oak wedding anniversary 

On that particular sunrise 

On December the fifth

That mesmerising spell broke like the mythical Sword of Elendil

And my world 

Shattered

So blue is my new season watching the midnight Lampyridae dance 

Alone

In the silvery moonlight

Like a young Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth

As we once did

While my life slowly drifts

South

After I lost you

My world and the only thing that once mattered

Wandering lost in my mind's so many labyrinths filled with our hieroglyphs

As I stand alone on 

Death's high cliff

When I remember that first time we met 

On that beautiful night

  

When our souls were ordained by God's light

 (C)

Copyright John Duffy

(Lampyridae: Firefly)

Have you read the sailor's monologue yet?

 

Today's transmission.

An evocative poem which processes a devastating breakup through a blend of romanticism, Greek mythology, and historical maritime imagery.

Core Theme & Narrative Arc.

The poem tracks a painful emotional journey: 

Navigating a tragic, final parting while fiercely holding onto the hope of future healing. 

The Departure: 

It opens with a quiet, devastating farewell ("two lonely unloved ghosts") where the speaker accepts that a beautiful relationship has collapsed. 

The Sabotage: 

The speaker externalises the relationship's breakdown, blaming both internal human frailty ("emerald eyes") and a personified mythological terror. 

The Defeat & Rebirth:

After experiencing deep isolation and numbness ("eating crumbs of defeat"), the speaker undergoes a powerful psychological shift. 

They reject despair, reclaim their autonomy, and arm themselves spiritually to love again.

Key Imagery & Symbolic Motifs: 

Mythology (Deimos):

Deimos is the Greek god of dread and terror. 

By dressing this god of terror in mundane, casual clothing ("a white Captain Bligh shirt and / Old nineties / Faded Levi's blue jeans"), the poem makes the abstract terror of heartbreak feel chillingly modern, familiar, and personal.

The Mutiny / Maritime Metaphors: 

The mention of Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian invokes the famous historical Mutiny on the Bounty. 

The speaker views themselves as Fletcher Christian. 

A man forced into rebellion, cast out, and sailing away on a lonely, uncertain new mission after a total collapse of order. 

The Nightingale vs. The Martial Eagle:

The Nightingale represents the fragile, beautiful love that "upped suddenly / And flown / Away."

The Martial Eagle represents the speaker’s resilient soul. 

It is a powerful, predatory African eagle, symbolising that the speaker's heart will eventually soar with dominance and strength rather than remaining a victim. 

The Armour of Hope:

The climax features classic chivalric imagery. 

The "diamond-encrusted sword called Hope" and the silver shield serve as psychological defences against the "gossips, racketeers, [and] gaslighters" of the outside world. 

The Latin Motto: 

The Turning Point. 

The emotional hinge of the poem is the Latin inscription on the shield: 

"Veniet Amor Cum Paratus Sum" — Love will come when I'm ready. 

This inscription marks the transition from the "crumbs of defeat" to "Freedom's Sandy Yellow shores." 

It represents a conscious decision by the speaker's "higher self" to stop grieving the past relationship and to "go to war" for their own peace of mind. 

It changes the narrative from one of passive victimhood to active, defiant readiness.

Tone and Style:

 Stream-of-Consciousness: 

The lack of traditional stanza breaks and punctuation creates an urgent, sweeping rhythm. It mimics a mind tumbling through grief, memories of Malibu Street, and sudden bursts of defiance. 

Contrast: 

The poem brilliantly contrasts epic, grand-scale concepts (divine plays, golden swords, the god Deimos) with incredibly gritty, realistic pop-culture and modern phrasing (90s Levi's jeans, gaslighters). 

This keeps the deeply romantic pain grounded in the real world.

Ultimately, the poem acts as a rebellious declaration. 

While it begins as a sorrowful parting gift, it ends as a battle cry—proving that while the love has walked out, the speaker's capacity to love survives. 

Shall we begin? 

The Sailor's Monologue. 

(A lone voice whispers)

Take this

As a now bearable parting gift 

From someone who will always love you 

The most 

As we bid our last painful goodbyes 

After renouncing

All known ties 

And departing 

Like two lonely unloved ghosts 

Into life's

Slow-moving mists 

For

It's been a wonderful dream 

But the dark god

Deimos 

From The Great In-Between

Now let in 

By emerald eyes

Hidden or seen 

To slow shadow walk

Towards us 

As we drift 

Has gloriously

Destroyed us 

Smiling

Wearing 

A white Captain Bligh

shirt and 

Old nineties

Faded Levi's blue jeans 

Grinning like a mad fool

In our slipstream 

At the joy and wonder

Of all our frail emotional screams 

Which creep in

In extreme

Sinful ways 

As we fall apart

At the seams 

In the fading lights

Each midnight 

Or in so many dark, secretive corners 

Everyday 

For our deep love

Like an abandoned

Nightingale 

Has upped suddenly

And flown

Away 

Once

In a vision

Or a divine play 

I saw you 

Lovingly 

Looking my way

On Malibu Street 

But now

Feeling cold and

Numb 

Eating crumbs of

Defeat 

Like an outcast,

A leper 

A reborn

Fletcher Christian 

Sailing away

On a new mission 

I beg you, Please look away 

For even though 

I'm broken in two 

Constantly 

Thinking of you 

My sad heart

Will once more soar 

Like a Martial Eagle

In full flight 

When true love

Eventually returns 

And she knocks

Hard 

On my tired hearts

Beating door 

Pleading to be let in once more 

But until then 

Gossips 

Racketeers

Gaslighters 

And every incarnation of the known Devil 

Hear my rebellious lions roar 

As my soul

Stands so ready and majestically

Tall 

Holding a golden, sharp, diamond-encrusted sword called Hope 

Clutching a solid silver shield with 

Veniet Amor Cum Paratus Sum (L)

Inscribed on the front in gold 

Love will come when I'm ready 

To banish despair

Forevermore 

For this pain and old memories are no longer civil 

So here I stand

In pure spirit 

On

Freedoms 

Sandy

Yellow shores 

As my higher self 

Prepares

To go to war 

To earn some more

Golden and red medals 

For my old true love

Has walked right out of my life 

And joy doesn't live here

Anymore 

(C)

Copyright John Duffy 

Deimos /ˈdaɪmɒs is the personal god of dread and terror in Greek mythology

Have you had ghostly visions?

 

(A lone voice whispers)

Sometimes, before the visitations come at night.

The shapeless shrouds walking in from misty clouds.

I smell a scent of sulfur as they appear in my sight.

Broken things, each wearing a red ring. Standing one by one until their bell I ring.

To then kneel and tell me their something.

Some speak of forgotten old queens or kings, as they wonder.

Some speak of standing still in memory's thunder.

To taste old, decayed moments that choke their inner sun.

Some dream to run to heaven to see the sights.

It's like this for me every night.

While the new world sleeps, and those from the old knock on the door to my keep.

Asking me to shine a light on their own mysteries, so their call can taste the old thrill of past victories.

That they still have a place somewhere in history.

Somewhere between the Dragon and the Holy King

It's why they say they come to me to sing.

For who wants to be a forgotten old broken thing? 

(C) Copyright John Duffy

 “The Midnight Visitors” is about being a witness and a keeper of what the world has discarded.

The visitors.

The “shapeless shrouds,” sulfur scent, mist, and red rings aren’t literal demons so much as forgotten souls, memories, ideas, and identities. 

They’re broken things—people, histories, emotions, even past selves—that were never resolved or honoured.

They arrive at night because night is when the mind is unguarded.

 This is the liminal hour: between waking and dreaming, past and present, and life and death.

Where the red ring suggests wounds, guilt, shame, blood, or unfinished business—a mark that identifies them as damaged but still alive in memory.

The speaker ringing the bell reverses power. They don’t haunt him; he summons them. That frames the speaker not as a victim, but as a ritual holder, judge, priest, or poet.

Someone who gives the forgotten permission to speak.

What they confess:

Each visitor carries a fragment of their history.

Lost royalty → fallen greatness. Frozen moments → trauma and regret.

Decayed memories → time eroding meaning. Dreams of heaven → longing for redemption.

These aren’t just their stories. They’re human stories—the universal fear of being erased, of having mattered once but soon to be no longer.

The speaker’s role.

This is the emotional centre of the poem.

While the “new world sleeps,” the speaker stays awake to receive the old. That makes him an archivist of the unseen.

A translator between eras.

Someone who shines a light so forgotten things can feel real again.

Where poetry itself becomes the lantern.

Dragon and Holy King.

A line that places the visitors between myth and sanctity—not villains, not saints. Just human. 

History usually remembers extremes; this poem speaks for everything in between.

The final question.

“For who wants to be a forgotten old broken thing?”

This is the quiet heartbreak of the poem. It’s not really about ghosts.

It’s about all of us and the fear that one day our story won’t be told—unless someone like the speaker listens.

Would you want to be remembered?

Salute.

Have you been to confession lately?

 

A poem exploring absolute romantic devotion through deep spiritual imagery, poetic duality, and raw vulnerability. 

The speaker elevates their partner to a sacred, life-giving force while grappling with a profound fear of abandonment and loss. 

Let us begin. 

(A lone voice whispers)

You're my book of revelations

Every page, a divine creation

My alpha and my omega

My rebirth through every weather

You’re the rhythm in my heartbeat

Soft and sacred when you hold me

Life and death inside your eyes

Heaven wrapped in your sighs

And if you walk away from me…

Oh girl, what would I be?

If your faith in me is gone…

Tell me, how do I go on?

You’re my hope… and my joy

My night… and my day

Don’t you ever drift away

You’re my light… when I’m lost

The only truth I can’t deny

Girl, you’re my reason why

Oh stay… stay… don’t fade away

You’re the song my soul can’t destroy

My hope… my joy…

If you leave, I’d be in shadows

Dancing with my broken echoes

Every prayer would sound your name

Every tear would fall the same

You’re the fire in my silence

The calm within my storm of violence

Only you have ever known

The child inside I’ve never shown

So if in me you don’t believe…

Girl, that’s all I’d ever need

To fall apart, to lose my way…

Don’t let our love just fade to grey…

(C) Copyright John Duffy

Has the Succubus visited you

 (A lone old male voice whispers to his loyal dog)

She came at midnight

Last night

You know

As the fireflies outside in our winter garden

Glowed

In a red dress of moving red lips that whispered of new dreams

Knocking like a reborn Anne Rice 

Lestat   

At my heart's window

Pleading with my soul

To cross the threshold and be let in

But I, the stone warrior

Whose dear love had already departed

Turned and walked back into the darkness of my loneliness 

Broken-hearted

For when true love once calls

In your lifetime 

And is then suddenly recalled like a severe blow

To the amygdala

All one can do

Is wallow in limbo

For true love is like the holiest of dreams

One of the Universe's best documentaries

Memories

Forged by Brigid to endure

To be kissed 

And be revisited 

Filled with lovers and even enemies

And consumed in any rare moment

Like expensive Hennessy

Bright white candlelights

Providing light 

In a new darkness

And a holy flame to warm any soul 

On any given night

As it clings on to memories of all the people you once loved

And all the things you used to do

To ride through and hold back any new storms

Or midnight visitors like that succubus last night

It's why I put my faith in true love and Jesus Christ

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

The Red Priestess

 

This is a rich, evocative piece of gothic poetry with strong themes of spiritual transformation, psychological exploration, and the classic "femme fatale" or spiritual guide archetype.

Here is an analysis for your eyes only. 

1. The Shadow Guide & The Anima

The "crimson priestess" acts as a classic Jungian Anima—a feminine archetype representing the deep, unconscious mind. 

She is not a physical being but a spiritual entity who appears in "dark dreams" to offer hidden knowledge ("spiritual treasures").

The Paradox of Choice:

She offers contradictory gifts: "ancient spells to drive your success" alongside "compassion and kindness." 

This shows she represents a complete, balanced psyche—both the driven, ambitious side and the empathetic side.

2. Esoteric & Occult Imagery

The poem heavily relies on Western esoteric and gothic motifs to create an atmosphere of forbidden or hidden knowledge:

The Scrying Mirrors & Reflective Walls: 

Mirrors in occult traditions are tools for divination and looking into the spirit realm.

The "silvery moonlight" and "reflective walls" suggest that the speaker is looking into their own mind to find her.

The Red Church & Dark Confessional Rooms:

Red typically symbolizes passion, blood, sacrifice, or vital life force. 

A "Red Church" turns traditional, austere religious imagery on its head, suggesting a spirituality based on intensity, emotion, and the subconscious rather than rigid dogma.

The Thinning of the Veil:

A reference to the folklore concept (often tied to Samhain/Halloween) where the border between the physical world and the spirit world becomes permeable, specifically "after the stroke of midnight."

 3. Transformation through Surrender

The narrative arc of the poem moves from a invitation to a total takeover.

The Promise: 

She offers a luxurious refuge ("silk sheets adorned with diamonds and gold") and a path to "recovery" and "redemption."

The Price: 

The cost of this spiritual salvation is total surrender. 

She promises to "claim your mind" so that the speaker will "stay and never return." 

The final lines bring the vast, cosmic fantasy sharply back to reality:

 the transition happens right here, in "your bedroom tonight," framing the experience as an imminent, personal awakening or a psychological shift.

Style and Tone

The poem utilizes a flowing, dream-like structure with inconsistent but rhythmic rhyming pairs (walls/all, rooms/glooms implied, gold/old).

Capitalizing phrases like Scrying Mirrors, Red Church, and Spiritual Salvation gives the text the weight of a mythic or religious manifesto, elevating a personal dream into a grand, cosmic journey.

Similar to La Belle Dame sans Merci by John Keats and Ulalume" by Edgar Allan Poe. 

Salute. 

Let us begin. 

(A lone voice whispers) 

Within my dark dreams she always appears and...... 

She sends me deep spiritual treasures 

to read and absorb

By my mind's

Scrying Mirrors 

In the silvery moonlights many reflective walls

Which are in plain view 

but just hidden from all

My crimson priestess from the Red Church 

With a multitude of dark 

confessional rooms

Hidden from mortal eyes

Above and below

Only known to them 

Who are truly 

In the know 

Come listen and hear my calls

And join me upon my quest

She always whispers when I dream 

There's a red room in here

With silk sheets adorned 

with diamonds and gold 

Where you can be my guest forever 

Until you are old

I'll send you ancient spells to drive your success

Compassion and kindness

To leave for others to follow in your footsteps

I await in the deep ravines 

Currently unexplored by you 

Look deep within yourself tonight

With the thinning of the veil between your world and mine

After the stroke of midnight

And

I'll appear before your eyes and claim your mind

I'll take you back 

Through the dark corridors of the hidden cities and towns 

To the Red Church 

of Such Spiritual Salvation 

And there 

I will trace my soft fingertips

Along your new road maps to a new recovery

and tempestuous realms

 

Of such redemption

That you will stay and never return 

But it's here in this room 

Your bedroom 

Tonight 

Your ticket you'll earn 

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

Have you experienced Renewal?

 

A poem exploring the profound emotional shift following the end of a relationship, moving from chaotic devastation to a sudden sense of survival and resurrection. 

The speaker describes experiencing the simultaneous heaven and hell of early heartbreak before pivoting on December 5th—just three days after the departure—to feel surprisingly reborn rather than destroyed. 

Drawing on literary and biblical allusions from Dante, Mephibosheth, and Shakespeare's Macbeth, the poem reframes the agonizing numbness of the past as a mere tragic play rather than true death.

(A lone voice whispers)

In the wind,  

In a gale, or at sea,  

Evoked by angels at daylight,  

Awoken by devils at midnight.  

And just broken  

In between.  

I once wandered like Dante,  

Experiencing heaven and hell  

Simultaneously,  

Like a shadow being,  

A Djinn.  

Unfolded like a rare, old-world map,  

Cold and lost as life's winds destroyed all my sanctuaries.  

I once used as cover while my broken heart recovered.  

But today,  

On December the fifth,  

The third day after you left,  

I feel resurrected and reincarnated like Mephibosheth.  

For, like in all relationships, holding Death's cold hands while you once wandered isn’t real death:

  

Only a tragic play.  

Yet one can feel burnt at the stake,  

Like the family and servants in a play 

Written by someone known as Shakespeare,  

Called Macbeth.  

(C) Copyright John Duffy

The Invitation

 

"The Invitation" is an evocative, gothic poem that employs a hypnotic multilingual progression using English, French, and Latin to shift between sensory, intimate, and eternal tones.

 The verses balance gentle seduction with dangerous imagery, symbolized by ethereal touch paired with a sharp sword, to demand total spiritual vulnerability from the reader. 

The supernatural and predatory tone builds an atmosphere where yielding to the speaker's command—"Meus eris"—becomes an absolute decree.

The Invitation 

(A lone voice whispers)

Can you feel my breath whispering through these lines?

Laissez-moi entrer là où dort votre âme

("Let me enter where your soul sleeps") 

Can you feel the sharp edge of my sword as each word shines as they're expressed?

Can you feel my ethereal fingertips caressing your spine?

As your soul pines and pleads to be undressed.

If so, in the higher language of all that have come before:

Meus eris.

(You will be mine".) 

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

Have you met an energy Vampire before?

 

Have you ever experienced the energy being drained out of a room, when someone unknown, enters? 

You may have met one!

Title:

The Energy Vampires

#Senryu

Baptised heartbroken

For forty long days and nights

Gathered Dark Souls smiled

575

(C) 

Copyright John Duffy

Image shared under fair usage policy 

Foundation of the piece.

Some mystics say:

Lower vibrational beings feed off humanity's pain and anguish.

What a feast they must have when they see a new resident of their invisible, Heartbreak Hotel.

Salute.