Mistress of The Shadows

 

Are you a nurse?

 Blessed be. 

Well-bound. 

A transmission for all the wonderful nurses. 

Does hospitalisation and being under the care of a nurse or others?

Connected to improving or maintaining one's health. 

Leave a lasting impression due to feeling vulnerable at the time? 

A lasting encounter that will always linger? 

Let us begin. 

Her gentle, graceful touches are so beautiful and incredibly captivating. 

Soothing. 

They seem to play a delightful melody. 

To vanquish all my mortal fears. 

Like the rarest of heavenly sunsets. 

That emerges with a twinkling smile. 

In the midst of pink and red frontiers. 

When time itself. 

Appears to stop flexing and moving. 

Swirling like a god-like deity. 

In a newly lit sky. 

She is the quintessence of glamour. 

In a nighttime high society ball. 

Filled with dancing masked courting fireflies. 

Who watches her every fluid movement. 

In jaw-dropping awe. 

When they pause to rest. 

On one of my beautifully 

wallpapered walls. 

A rare evening.

Serenading the gathering of a few enamoured spirits.  

Where honoured souls.

Gather in their best dresses.

And bespoke suits to readily confess.

Her delicate hands.

Move like Mother Moon.

Gently over my trembling horizons.  

Whispering my secret name.

And claiming me as her. 

domain. 

For we are now consummate soul lovers. 

And no longer just worldly friends. 

A bright new world is always breathed into light. 

And lost in her delicious touches. 

In that spectacular twilight. 

For under the gaze of my devotion. 

I can only reflect her love of her professionalism.  

In my hazel-coloured lens.  

The darkness surrounding us. 

Like an old friend. 

Sings a lasting symphony. 

Of happiness and lingers in the celestial. 

As angels watch and smile. 

No man-made treaties. 

Or paper laws. 

Can separate us. 

For now. 

Our bond in the midnight sun. 

Soon will wildly run. 

We'll never lose this particular twilight. 

I hope. 

And these baptised rays will never lose their red and pink hue. 

For when we first met. 

I'll always remember. 

That I willingly sank knee-deep. 

Into your green and blue. 

For in that magical transference of spiritual energy. 

I knew in that metaphysical moment. 

Why God had sent me, and it's why now.  

I'll always belong. 

To just you.

(C) 

Copyright John Duffy

Do you need a prayer in these dark times?

 Blessed be. 

Velumbound 

White candlesticks and incense

We burn 

In this

Divine silence 

Low-tempo music

We play in this 

Our secret temples 

Praying to you

For sacred guidance 

Gifts of

Oaths of Allegiance 

We offer

In defiance 

Of this life's

Ever-increasing violence 

Like trinkets of gold

On this

Our old

Alabaster altar stone 

Blessings of lost dreams

Shining with such gleam 

Oh, Lord

We call to you 

See us

From beyond the swirling grey smoke 

Speak to us 

Within the rise of morning sun 

And the fall of the midnight moon 

Whisper your insights into us

In morning or night 

As slow drum beats

Of seconds and minutes

Bow in defeat 

Breathe into us 

New hope 

For we are but life's many dancers 

Who call for their Father

As children 

Praying and singing for glory

So that when you see or hear our stories 

Of the painful days 

You'll show us a new way 

So today 

We burn

Frankincense and myrrh 

Sage and sandalwood 

To be sent up

Like beacons of fidelity 

Into the fresh air 

Infused with prayers to renew 

To help us

Live again 

So Father

Look upon us with favour 

And

Savior 

Walk once more within our deep dreams 

From the hidden spaces in between

Oh, Great Father

We beseech thee 

Free us from the

Curse of Violence in Men 

With this prayer of praise

Amen 

(C) 

Copyright John Duffy 

What about us

 

Have you walked down Freedom Road

 

The End

 

Spiritual warfare in the unruly days: A poem on angelic intervention against the New World Order

 Blessed be. 

Velumbound. 

Keep the faith. 

Better days are coming your way. 

Title:

The Visitation

Like a heart's favourite childhood melody 

She appeared to me

Walking harmoniously

Like Lady Serenity 

Straight out of the ever-moving shadows of the fading lights

As blue clouds parted 

As if asked by Moses 

In dark skies 

Upon the stroke of midnight 

All she asks for 

She said

With her bright eyes glistening 

Like cherry diamonds  

Is loyalty

Faith and belief in something greater

Something good

No man or beast 

Can ever deny as their time 

Flies by

If they could 

Her opulence and grace 

Lit up my face 

Like a New Year's Eve firework

When she appeared at my staying place

And if she's feeling kind 

And kisses you 

On your cheek 

Like she did mine

So gently

With a candy-sweet smile  

That glows with tints of sparkling eloquence and extreme obsession

That's so deliciously elegant 

You'll feel a subtle transference of magical energy 

A synergy of goodness and kindness 

Tied up in a purple bow 

That will follow you 

Like a lucky rainbow 

Everywhere 

You go

Have you too 

Seen this elemental testament  

To spiritual redevelopment 

Yet

For know this 

If you haven't 

Angels do appear 

Every day 

To the mournful guilty, or truly innocent 

Of just those in need

To try to answer prayers 

Which are heaven-sent 

For prayers 

Sent up to the clouds 

Like seeds

Must be opened and answered 

In time 

And never declined 

To try to stop the torture and torment 

In someone's poor mind

 

So this Christmas

Find some time 

And who knows 

The Angel who looks like Lady Serenity 

Could appear  

And give you a gift of her red rose

To carry forever 

No matter where your life 

Goes 

From here now

Even into the depths of eternity

To shine a bright light

To push back corruption's

Dark shadows

In these unruly days

Governed by The Archduchy

And secret societies spellbound by ungodly uncertainties

Working feverishly behind the scenes 

To bring down 

All countries

By placing an ominous crown

On a New World Order

King or Queen

(C)

Copyright John Duffy 

Have you stepped into the Circle of Fire too?

 

Blessed be. 

Velumbound. 

Today's journey is through the:

The Human Experience

Part 1

Relationship Flaws

Into the circle of fire

I stepped

Hoping 

To be baptised

With Love

And sex

Only to feel

Lonely

Used

And abused

As my

Lover

Moved on

To the next

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

Is this the price of love? Heartbreak.

Blessed be. 

Velumbound. 

This poignant transmission explores the universal arc of a romantic relationship. 

Moving from idealistic bliss to catastrophic heartbreak and eventual emotional imprisonment.

The Fragility of Love:

The transmission contrasts the perceived strength of a romantic bond with how easily it can be destroyed by external pressures.

The Weight of Reality: 

It illustrates how time, trauma, and suspicion inevitably erode youthful idealism.

Isolation and Depression: 

The aftermath of heartbreak is depicted not just as sadness, but as an active, overwhelming dark environment that swallows the individual's identity.

The transmission follows a strict chronological three-act structure that mirrors the psychological stages of grief:

Act I: 

The Idealistic Past: Radiant, sacred, and expansive. 

"Garden of Eden", "unbeaten", "glint of Heaven"

Act II: 

The Cataclysm:  Sharp, sudden, and destructive. "Fate's razor-sharp... knife", "twin red balloons"

Act III: 

The Aftermath: Heavy, stagnant, and collective. "Great darkness", "grey world", "Eternal stocks"

Biblical and Mythological Imagery

The transmission opens with an explicit reference to the Garden of Eden. 

This frames the early relationship not just as happy, but as sinless, pure, and insulated from the real world. 

The transition to a "New Kingdom" suggests a shared universe built entirely by the lovers.

The Balloon Metaphor

The central turning point uses the vivid imagery of "twin red balloons" to represent the couple's bond.

Red symbolises passion and love.

Balloons are fragile, filled with air, and easily popped or swept away.

The specific timeline ("In May" and "June the fourth") grounds the metaphorical narrative in a brutal, hyper-specific reality, signalling exactly when the relationship dissolved.

The speaker personifies destructive emotional forces to make them feel like active villains:

"Lady Mistrust" is introduced as a fatal interloper.

"Father Darkness" becomes a companion and authority figure in the speaker's depression, ruling over a "grey world."

The Chorus of the Damned

The repetition at the end acts as a Greek chorus. 

The devils singing from the high rocks normalise the pain, reminding the speaker that heartbreak is a tax every human ("Our Brethren") must eventually pay. 

The "eternal stocks" imply that heartbreak traps a person, forcing them into a public display of shared misery.

The transmission tried to capture how heartbreak reshapes reality. 

The piece begins in a private, elevated paradise and ends in a crowded, subterranean purgatory. 

The ultimate conclusion is bittersweet: 

While the pain is agonising and dark, singing "the pain out" with the rest of humanity is the only transactional way to survive the price of love.

 

Shall we begin? 

(A lone voice whispers) 

We once walked unbeaten

Like unashamed lovers 

In our mysterious

Garden of Eden

With soft smiles

Hands held tight

With a glint of Heaven

In our eyes

Every day and night

When we surveyed 

Our New Kingdom

In ecstatic delight

But time and the heavy

Baggage of life

Stuck 

Fates razor sharp 

Ritualistic knife

Called 

Lady Mistrust

Into the twin red balloons

Floating above us

That served as our 

Unbreakable bond

Mine blew away

On June the fourth

And flew North

After yours 

In May

Up to Somewhere

Where the 

Starlings play

But 

Oh how we had 

Some fun

Though

Minds kept

Sharp

With emotions

Running hot

As our thoughts

Entwined

Underneath the midnight sun

So now with 

Lips and voice

Unused 

Mind 

Bashful and bruised

I retreat

Into this

Great darkness

To stand

Sad and

Handcuffed 

By the side of the other

Low men and women

In this new grey world

Swimming with

Father Darkness 

In the shadows

Standing 

Still

With nowhere to go

As his Devils sing

From high rocks

Their endless verse

Urging me to join 

Their huge chorus line

"This is the price

Of love

Of our Brethren

When heartbreak

Consumes

Your soul

And holds

You in our

Eternal stocks

To line up

In the cold

And sing 

To sing

The pain out. 

This is the price

Of love

Of our Brethren

When heartbreak

Consumes

Your soul

And holds

You in our

Eternal stocks

To line up

In the cold

And sing 

To sing

The pain out"

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

Death by a thousand cuts

 

Blessed be. 

Velumbound. 

This transmission is a visceral, dark romantic exploration of love viewed not as a gentle romance, but as a destructive, chaotic, and ultimately essential cosmic force. 

The speaker contrasts the agony of emotional vulnerability with the hollow alternative of a safe, passionless existence.

The transmission rejects conventional, idealised views of romance.

Instead, it frames love as an agonising form of martyrdom.

It compares love to Língchí (the ancient Chinese method of execution by a thousand cuts) and the brutal impalements of Vlad the Impaler. 

The "crimson landscape of bleeding emotions" emphasises that loving someone requires total, painful vulnerability.

True desire is described as a "juggernaut" that systematically dismantles "our inner towers of morality and sense of worth." 

It brings biblical-scale destruction to a person's inner stability, drawing comparisons to Sodom and Gomorrah.

It uses a heavy saturation of historical, mythological, and religious imagery to elevate the stakes of human romance to an epic, universal scale:

The Chimaera and Pandora: 

These Greek mythological references paint love and desire as beautiful illusions that harbour chaos and destruction, yet remain irresistible to the human soul.

The Basilisk: 

In folklore, the Basilisk is a mythical reptile that kills with a single glance. 

In the transmission, love acts like this creature. 

It "swallows us whole," demanding absolute surrender.

The Archdeacon: 

The introduction of a religious congregation praying at the "boundary edge" suggests that passion is a religion in itself, complete with its own nightly rituals and devotionals.

The transmission thrives on a stark paradox: love is lethal, yet it is the only thing that makes life worth living.

The Ultimate Rush:

Despite the "blood-stained crosses," the speaker notes that this chaos is the "ultimate rush for any soul." 

Earth is framed as a playground designed precisely for these mind-blowing "vices and crushes."

The Alternative (The "Cold Kiss"): 

The ending shifts to a chilling reflection on death. 

The speaker warns that missing out on the devastating intensity of love is the ultimate tragedy. 

When life ends, and you receive death's "cold kiss," the only thing you will truly regret missing is that consuming, "exotic perfume" of passion.

(A lone voice whispers) 

In my endless quests

Of Argentine Tango's

Until my inevitable death

Love to me

Was like a Língchí

A slow death of a thousand cuts 

A crimson landscape

Of bleeding emotions

With 

What Ifs and Buts

Crucified like Vlad the Impaler's foes 

On blood-stained crosses 

Of 

Who Knows

For true Desire is a fire

Of such imaginable power

It pulls down

Our inner towers, 

Of morality and sense of worth

Like a juggernaut

From Sodom and Gomorrah

But as Ancient Books 

Say

Living with that chimaera

That Pandora

Is the ultimate rush

For any soul

And Earth is the ultimate

Playground

Awashed with

Vices and crushes

Of all known

And unknown kinds

To blow anyone's mind

It's why in here

To our Arch Deacon

We all gather here

At the boundary edge

To pray nightly

To be returned

One day

To that strange but so exotic perfume

To once more

Stand naked

In any room

As love in any form

Swallows us

Whole

Like the mighty Basilisk

For that my dearest

Reader 

Is the only form of

Living you'll ever miss

When you're too close

Your eyes forever 

Like me

And countless others

And awake 

On the other side

Of living 

Cold kiss

(C)

Copyright John Duffy