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

Memories of Mary Jane

 

Blessed be. 

Velumbound. 

This transmission explores grief, addiction, and the enduring nature of first love. 

Written from the perspective of a 75-year-old man in a nursing home, the piece utilises a frame narrative to contrast the warm, vivid memories of youth with the cold, isolated reality of old age and impending death. 

The transmission illustrates how addiction consumes everything—first emotional connection ("left me feeling lonely and cold"), then financial stability ("swallowed up / All our hard-worked for gold"), and finally, life itself.

The turning point of the narrative is the death of the girl's father. 

Her inability to cope with this loss drives her to addiction, which ultimately destroys her life and her relationship with the speaker.

Death does change you in so many ways. 

Shall we begin? 

(A lone voice whispers. )

In the twilight hours

Just when the grey clouds

Break and the slow moon rises

Silently announcing it's getting too late

I still always wake to remember that auburn-haired girl

I once used to date

Her bright green eyes  

And twinkling wide smile

All things  

Young boys dream of  

And for them

To go that extra mile

But like all things that came to pass

Our love withered the night her beloved pa died

I tried to hold her hands  

To console her

Prayed God would wipe away all those wet tears she cried

But that new hole in her arm

Which soon swallowed up

All our hard-worked for gold

Always left me feeling lonely and cold

It all ended the fateful night

On June the first  

When the rains fell

And life was a constant fight, and everything seemed on top

Filled with thirst

With my wallet and her purse empty

She got that feeling 

To go stealing 

Only to get shot dead by the cops

I can still see her now, even after all these sad passing years

Now I'm old and grey  

Sat in this nursing home

Feeling all alone and filled with so many dry tears

I guess those memories of my youth will still linger and will never stop

It's quite crazy now that I'm on morphine to ease the pain

Those images of her standing in the kitchen

With those beautiful green eyes and wide beaming smile

Cooking and singing 

Some Motown tune

While outside it rained

Still play around the cinemas

In my brain

As I even now 

At seventy-five  

Remember  

Echoes of my first and last love

My beloved wife and lifelong addiction  

Called Mary Jane

My love for you  

Wherever you are

Will always survive 

And until we are once more  

Reunited

Will always remain

If you can hear this

Just know I still treasure those memories of us

The ones where you were free and truly alive

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

You do know you're at war, don't you?

 Blessed be. 

Velumbound. 

This transmission is a contemporary, atmospheric prayer or incantation that blends traditional religious language with elements of speculative fiction, cosmic horror, or modern esotericism. 

It explores themes of divine protection, spiritual warfare, and the insidious nature of temptation.

Maybe you need it? 

You do know there is a war for your soul, don't you? 

(A lone voice whispers) 

Oh, Great Lord

Provide me and my family

With your Divine protection

And watch and guide our hopes and desires 

With holy direction

Be the gatekeeper to discourage 

Dismay and rejection

Without delay

And protect us from the enemy

Who comes calling 

From the Grey Field 

Of Low Density

Offering gifts

Of such devilish ecstasy

Amen

(C)

Copyright John Duffy 

Need some soul medicine?

 Blessed be. 

Velumbound. 

This transmission functions as a manifesto on the healing power of artistic creation (specifically writing) framed through Christian spiritual warfare. 

It positions poetry and storytelling not just as hobbies, but as divine tools—"soul medicine"—capable of slicing through emotional trauma and connecting the human spirit to the divine.

(A lone voice whispers.)

Do you need some soul medicine to heal

Do you need something immortal

Like an untouched Sword of the Spirit

To open up 

A pathway 

To a new portal 

To reach the very Nexus 

Of you

To an infectious unseen world

Of unforgettable words

And verbs

A high precipice to skydive from

If you can hold

Your nerve

Into the Great Beyond

A world of transitions

Incarcerations

Bonds of

Hope

Lost hope

Broken hearts

Needing to cope

Pain and reconciliation 

But above all

Above all things

At the very core

Art

Art to do more

Art to really delve deep

Into where your dart

Lands

On your dartboard

Of hidden lands

So if your heart needs healing

A means to cope with

Maybe

Unreciprocated feelings

As your heart beats Heavier and heavier

Looking for release

From its heavy work

To climax

And explode

As old emotions

Are uncovered 

And explored

Just look to the pen

Or keyboard

And the Almighty

Your version 

Of the Lord

Will anoint you

With these words

To be restored 

Benedict tibi puer meus

(Bless you, my child.)

To help heal the scars

From wounds

Other eyes

Can never understand

Or perceive

For it's why you were

Given words

To weave stories

That must be conceived

To cleve 

Any invisible

Pain

That must be relieved 

Maybe in poetry

For 

Sometimes

The rhymes make it easy to take up our Swords of the Spirit 

And fight against our mortal and immortal enemies

But even though sometimes our strength is not enough

To last into the night

When facing ordeals

We can find comfort 

In knowing God is by our side

 For 

Romans 8:31 says

 “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? 

If God is for us, who can be against us?”

I encourage you to take up the sword of the Spirit in your daily life.

Remember that God’s Word is the ultimate truth and that we can stand on His promises.

With God on our side, we are unstoppable."

(C)

Copyright John Duffy