Canto of The Soul

(An old soul sings.

 Surrounded by Lillie's in a now empty hospice, which was full three days ago. 

As the lovely nurse goes to do the paperwork, to increase his morphine.)

Is quintessentially

To live

To essentially

One day accept 

Defeat

That when your life's about to be obsolete 

You better pray like a God faring priest

Associated with your beliefs

That you don't

Wake up somewhere 

New

Like in Dante's 

9 Levels of Hell

Walking it's mean streets

From Limbo to Treachery

Lost forever 

Under crimson clouds of molton lava 

As hidden drums 

Beat

(C)

Copyright John Duffy 

Canto used in this context.

Canto is an Italian word coming from Latin which means song or singing. 

Source: Google.

Foundation of the piece.

My late father went through the Liverpool Care Pathway. 

No food or water. Only increasing doses of morphine via a syringe driver, and sedation.

Can you imagine what they must think as they are rushed to life's greatest climax?

Salute.

A Graveyard Shift Monologue

 A Graveyard Shift Monologue

(A lone voice whispers)

She came at midnight

You know

Last night

In red dress 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 departed

Turned and walked back into the darkness of 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 Hennessey

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

Like my faith in Jesus Christ

(C)

Copyright John Duffy  

Anne Rice Lestat:

A famous vampire in a novel by Anne Rice.

Amygdala:

Your amygdala is a small part of your brain, but it has a big job. It's a major processing center for emotions. It also links your emotions to many other brain abilities, also links your emotions to many other brain abilities, especially memories, learning and your senses.

Source: Google

Brigid:

She is associated with wisdom, poetry, healing, protection, smithing and domesticated animals.

Cormac's Glossary, written in the 9th century by Christian monks, says that Brigid was "the goddess whom poets adored" and that she had two sisters: 

Brigid the healer and Brigid the smith.

 This suggests she may have been a triple deity.

She is also thought to have some relation to the British Celtic goddess Brigantia.

Source: Google

Marked by The Devil

Are there some people so weak, they're always influenced to think:

the grass is greener on the other side?

Is history, film, relationships and life in general, littered with them like cheap wedding confetti?

Title:

Marked by The Devil

(A lone voice whispers)

There were times
I wish the Lord

Had intervened and I should have stayed the course

Used the power
Of true judgement

So I wouldn't feel this remorse

And shown up at that appointed hour

After work

And not been
Where I was seen

Shouldn't have hid my wedding ring

In The Wine Bar
At Charlie's

When the Devil whispered
She's nice

Compelling my libedo
To sing
For a taste of his sweet pleasurable sin

For when that eight lettered oath I once made
Was spoken

I love you
At church 

In Downtown

Manhattan was broken

That fateful night
And you left
Soon afterwards

Heartbroken

All I can do now is refect
On a sad path
Once taken

And all these black books of grief
It has awakened

I now kneel
In Saint Peter's
Every Sunday

Every Sunday
And pray for atonement

But this pain won't relent
In any known way

So I now live alone
For I'm now one
Of the tainted

No longer
Innocent

The once Sunday church man

Who was drawn like a helpless moth
To a flame

Now tries to hide
From the Devil
With prayer

For it knows his name
And follows him
Everywhere

So as the these blue clouds overhead
Flow

As the blue oceans
Below
Churns

Those old mistakes I once made

Still deep down
Inside
Burns

But will I ever learn

You see
That Devil of mine
Still whispers

Everywhere
I turn

Been married
Eight times
In five years

Since she left
Abandoned each one

On how that Devil
Must laugh

At all he's done

But this time
It's gonna be different

Just told my
Katy

Wife number nine
Everything will be fine

She's the one

Now all I got to do
Is not listen to that old Devil

Who's always saying

Be a rebel

Keep them coming
Cheatings always been fun

(C)
Copyright John Duffy

Image shared under fair usage policy.

Have you been on Love Patrol

 

Have you been on Love Patrol searching for love?

Title:

Love Patrol

(A lone voice whispers)

Tonight

Still on on parole 

On love patrol 

In the storms 

Of life

As things spiral 

Out of my control 

I pray Love comes into sight

To make me 

Whole

While my heart is beating

Like a lone drummer 

In the middle of the night

In Summer

As I wear my heart on my sleeves

Haunted by Father Time's 

One thousand thieves 

Wondering 

In this wet silence

As I stand outside

The box

In steadfast defiance 

Will I still be praying 

Come November

With this moon still as bright

 

That the missing part

Of my soul

 

Will come into sight

And help me 

Remember

L'amour apparaît quand on s'y attend le moins. Car tous les papillons ont besoin d’une flamme.

(C)

Copyright John Duffy 

Transition:

Love appears when you least expect it. For all moths needs a flame.

Image shared under fair usage policy.

Tuatha de Danann Dreaming

With timeworn

But stubborn like a six-inch

Jerusalem thorn

Dreaming 

Forlorn

Tonight

Of Halcyon Nights 

When memories waterwheel slowly turns

And midnight candles burn 

As my inner film projectors play

I also remember Halcyon Days

Spent with the now dearly departed 

Yearning for moments only 

The Tuatha de Danann can invoke

Pulling back 

My true love

From Hades 

Swirling grey smoke

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

The Tuatha Dé Danann are described as a supernatural race, much like idealized humans, who are immune from ageing and sickness, and who have powers of magic.

Source; Wikipedia.

Image shared under fair usage policy.

As Above. So Below.

 A dash of Easter creativity .

A poem that reads down and then up.

A recent piece inspired my curiosity.

Salute.

Title:

As Above

So Below

You  

Remastering

Through

Rhymes 

words and

Poetry

Remember 

You

So 

Smile 

Spiritually!

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

Image shared under fair usage policy.

Astral Dreams

Astral Dreams

(A lone voice whispers)

Lost in the Ballard of Reading 

In the Darkness 

With the narrating

 

Well dressed

Lord Byron

I found a distressed Carol Ann Duffy

Wandering

Lonely 

In the Dark

And in that Dark Forest

As we held hands 

For safety 

As we wandered

In that strange astral park

We found a candlelit clearing 

And watched a

Edward Thomas

Dressed in blue

Propose to the stunning Gretel 

Dressed in white

Ivory 

As we hid

Hiding 

In the Darkness 

Watching that surreal scene

Like a candlelit priory

Like how 

The marriage was overlooked 

By the beautiful smiling

Louise Glück

In that deep gulf

With The Vampire called Conrad Aiken

Who many had tried 

To put a stake in

Dressed in red and black

And The Raven 

Edgar Allan Poe

And as my favourite dream faded 

Before I could see Thomas and Gretel

Conjugated

As time flowed  

I came to be lost

 

Suspended and swept up 

In a Storm of Fear 

Conjured up by the alchemist and magician

Robert Frost

Only to find my way home

Walking the rose petalled pathway

Only the broken can find

The one called Elkind

Etched and inscribed 

In the heartbroken blind

Recesses of the mind

(C)

Copyright John Duffy 

Do you remember a kiss that still haunts you to this very day, in moments of quiet introspection?

 

Do you remember a kiss that still haunts you to this very day, in moments of quiet introspection?

Title:

Scrying Mirror Dreams 

(A lone voice whispers)

I can subliminally feel 

All those sad fears

Rhythmically 

Swirling like sharpened kitchen knives

Within all my world old choices

Which still cuts me so deep

Like cold Tamahagane steel

Above all this new

Life's 

Now old noises

I can just see you 

Sitting there

In your darkened bedroom

Somewhere

Surrounded by your favourite red roses 

Dressed in that familiar soft white lace

With translucent tears

Running down 

Your beautiful face

Thinking of me

As a lone crone

In a faraway forest

In triumph 

Sings 

And rejoices

Overjoyed by her spells

Creating turmoil 

Through fake excuses and tragic surprises

In you

For

I know

It's not fair

What you're going through

But trust me

I'm going through it

Too

For 

This thing we once started

This inexplicable thing

This molten fire that still burns

 

Like it's taboo

Since we parted

Reaches so deep

Inside

I just can't sleep

Can't work

Can't recall

How many times

I've cried

Brokenhearted

For I remember

Those sweet salad days

Before our love

Died

And as we parted our ways

I always remember

Walking on the beach

With the girl next door

Who came to me

Unexpectedly

Like a serene gift 

From The Holy Sea

Gently fluttering by

To say hello

Like a rare beautiful Glasswing Butterfly

But now

We are 

But two 

Lost souls

With nowhere to go

Just wondering around

In familiar round circles

And looking into 

This purple haze

The very mouth of this black abyss

I see

Before me

Looking at the mistakes

We once made

In my obsidian scrying mirror

As our tarot cards 

Were first laid

When we first kissed

While we walked

Its tired pavements

In its maze

I pray and hope you still

Think of me

The ghost

Who still loves his beautiful rare Glasswing butterfly

From the Realms

Of The

Great In-Between

Sent to love you

To remind you

You're so special

An astral envoy

Sent like a 

Spiritual Kestrel

To inspire others 

Especially those

That suffer in silence

So turn that Southern Country music 

Up high

To drown out your world's violence 

For a light like yours

Must shine

And it's why

This old ghost

Can never say goodbye

For our old love story 

Lives beyond

The seas of that black abyss

Forever 

Spinning

In perpetual glory

In my old memories

Of our

First poetic kiss

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

Image shared under fair usage policy.

The Sword of Damocles. Has yours fallen yet?

 Press play.

(A lone voice whispers)

Is love 

Not money or power

The true incarnation of the Sword of Damocles

From Cicero

In history

For when it falls

Are you changed forever

By its sweet and dark mysteries 

While Brother Death and gathered Angels and Demons

Watch

And does

“Fall it must”

Be a prerequisite

For a sweet taste of much-needed happiness

Internal reconstruction and development 

To appear 

From the quietly blowing dust 

Of just living

So if you're lucky,

You'll find who

Your soulmate is

Even though it can be

Sometimes

So cold 

Sharp and 

Unforgiving 

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

The Ayahuasca Warrior

(A lone voice whispers)

Into the Mythical UnderMouth

Known as The Dark Abyss

I went

Swirling like a lost Autumn leaf

In strange winds

Heaven sent

Merging like a well-drilled soldier

Into the fine lines

Of the Universe’s timeless dust

I travelled up high

Into the higher kingdoms of The Astral Realms

To mysterious crossroads of The Undreamt

Then to unvisited corners never seen before by others

Into another dimension of Time and Space

Colliding into other faceless atoms

Of golden rusty dust

Where one whispered

She would be my mother

In another life

She would nurture and get me ready for my future wife

Then that special atom flowed on

Farther still I travelled

Crashing still into other atoms as they 

Came along

Some confessed they would be my father

Sisters and brothers

But what pinned me and held me transfixed the most

Was that golden moment

Lost among that purple and hue

When a shimmering colourful cloud whispered

Before it too passed by

Like an unearthly ghost

I will be sent forward

Just for you

Forever to be your only true lover

My name is irrelevant for we will be reunited

Over the aeons

Again and again

For we are translucent beings of immortality

And in that moment of magical clarity

I knew I had found all the answers

To all my questions as she too drifted by

Flickering like a wind-blown flame

Towards a glowing light, I could not name

We are but pawns in the Greatest of all Games

But given a supreme supporting cast

Which acts as our deposit or bond

To help love and guide us

Whilst alive

And running around in its many diverse classes

For as long as the Greatest of all Games

Lasts

And then into

The Great Beyond

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

Image shared from Pinterest under fair usage policy.