~by Gregg Rowe~
Damocles' Sword swings like my antique clock’s pendulum and
embraces me while I was being conceived. Today--
surviving an abused past becomes my self-gift to continue living
the rest of my mortality in peace and harmony
instead of chaos who reigned within my first forty years --
numbering now my days in seconds and minutes;
yet, still never letting me see my self-worth and truth.
Disease knocked upon my temple, without an invitation--
entered and decided to play house. AIDS, they say from
a virus, cutting my mortality in half at the age of
twenty-seven, forcing me to confront my demons, -- and
humbly, while speaking to my angels, -- Heaven’s existence.
Doom sets in as I watch cumulous clouds
envelope the city skyscrapers, a counsellor’s voice whispers
sorry’s incoherently having to break the news; I just want to
puke over the clinic’s clean hospitalized ceramics floors
and shit obscenities from my mouth
instead I sit in silence -- frozen -- quickly
realize I am sinking into an abyss shell.
Delivered news causes impotence, I sink further into an
ever bottomless pit of beer, gin, vodka and coke –
single and dying. I scream inside living on borrowed
time. Wasting away, wanting, demanding to be
released from the coiled snake’s oil venom seeping through the
underground of my soul
causing me to continue to buy the fixes to nourish my evil
temple while I dream of a fantasy where this
illness never exists -- eradicated from earth --
only to be reawaken to face another
never ending day of daily dosages of my fruit loops.
Dancing with my devils I speak in foreign languages:
enter the dungeons of my soul and face
long lost memories of a golden light that
intrudes my reality
raping my dreams and fantasies by the onslaught of bloodied
images in which I waltz my life away every night with my black
umbrella protecting me and warding me from the
muses of the underground before my time has come.
Dazzling lights shatters the abyss of my soul where the
evils I have ingested habit. I feel free as angels
let me in and arm me with tools to battle my
inner demons. Muses guide me as I pass mythological
gods and dance with fairies watching men in silver suits on white
horses with one horn gallantly prance in fields of poppies and I
think of being free and dancing with my inner soul.
Deliver me from this evil disease so I may
experience peace and harmony; deliver me from this
sickness so I may run and jump and swim and dance
in joy over the freedom of what wellness is, deliver me from this
rage so I can walk with friend and foe and deliver me so I can
embrace the man whom I have journeyed to be.
Daily I exist, see my truth as a human, integrate my beliefs join my
roads as I pass the obstacles tossed into my mundane life. I now
escape into the rural wilderness as I face my
anguishes and concerns -- internally and externally -- so my
muses deliver me peace with harmony as I accept my mortality.
Author notes
1. Write a poem ABOUT a muse, and be accurate in your facts of this muse (go to www.pantheon.org if you need help with this). It can be any style poem even haiku but it must be moving, and accurate.
I have read Nevermind Them allpoetry.com/poem/949977
The Endless, the universal themes that govern and encompass every single living being on not only this mudball called Earth but, I should imagine, all higher lifeforms everywhere. To be able to use them as your muse, to revel in their infinite wisdom and utter power is a challenge that each poet worth their salt will relish to conduct. * Gregg 
Written September 11th, 2004
In a list
- Mending My Muse • next in list
- Gregg's Silver Cups • next in list
- The Honorables • next in list
- Winnie Learns the Alphabet (Acrostics) • next in list
A contest entry
- Myths and Legends by SlaveToTheBlade.
600 points, ended March 29, 2006, 10 entries
Silver trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Your Worst Nightmare by wingsofgold25.
800 points, ended December 3, 2006, 21 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What did you think
Comments
1 - 45 of 45
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Good write
This is fery sad and with each line the burden seems to get heavier and heavier. although very long it was a must read right to the end.
Thanks for your entry and Good Luck in the contest -
Amazing background to this near epic write. Congratulations on wiining silver in this contest.
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Very nice. One of my faves.
Wow. I'm simply amazed. There are no words to describe this one. Well done. Well done, indeed. -
wow. this is an amazing piece of work. it's incredibly moving and beautifully written. from the subtle acrostics, to excellent (and descriptive) word choices, and the way it all fit together to create a masterpiece. you have captured so much emotion and conveyed it incredibly well for the reader. this is something to be read more than once to make sure nothing is missed. brilliant job! keep it up. thank you so much for entering and best of luck in the contest <3
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Beautiful
I love the background. The poem is lovely. Good luck in the contest, you are definetelly an oponent to be afraid of.
-The girl who's going against you, but feels you will win. -
A very beautiful and moving piece! One that must have taken a very long time to write! A wellspring of emotion here that was so very deep, and powerful! Good luck in the contest!
Paula
Edited on Apr 02, 6:00 p.m. because ''. -
great poem, i enjoyed it very much
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i found both pieces to be a literary delight,but i must confess that part 2 does durpass the first.it is so very sound in content and enriching in context.you must know you did a fabulous job on the entire write.thanks for the entry.
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Had you not highlighted each beginning letter, I would have thought this to simply be a great work of prose, but becaue it is an acrostic poem, it is absolutely more than phenomenal. The sentiments written here are heartwrenching, yet most hopefull and filled with stark realities of the world in which we live, and events of life that we must be attentive to. This is an extraordinary work of literary art! BRAVO! I stand long, and applaud feverishly to give ovation!!! Good luck in the challenge.
Renee ♥ -
A wonderful piece. Sad and just full of emotion. The messages you have along the edge, sound wonderfully in the way that when I read them aloud, it sounded as if those words should always be placed that way. Anywho, wonderful write.
Good luck in the contest,
Miseria -
Whew! this was quite a write. I was compelled to read faster and faster as the palpable anguish poured forth from you. Amazing enough that you did this as an acrostic but even more amazing is the depth of emotion you included. Good luck in the contest.
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Wow, a very sad write, yet good. You seem to peace with this though! May God bless you! Thanks for entering!
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Absolutely brilliant - I love how what you wrote seemed to reflect on the word is was associated with (that's what I got from it anyway, hehe). Great feel to the poem and an original concept - very cleverly constructed, too. ^_^ Good luck in the contest and thanks very much for entering!
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WELL DONE!
this is beautiful! What a wonderful, moving piece. Thank you so much for penning it, sharing it, and for entering it into the contest.
May your muses inspire you and guide you daily...
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o0o0oh
lovely. -
This is such an awesome poem! I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it really is! What more can I say? Good luck in the contest and keep up the awesome work!
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wow this was really good. i haven't read something like this for a really long time. you write so well and so dscriptively, i could totally see what you were saying. the background also makes a difference in how you read it, because you were giving us a little something to go off of. great job keep writing, cuz i'll love to read it.
(.ellie.) -
This poem was amazing... I don't even know what to say. The acrostics were very well done and definately added a lot to the poem. It was moving and powerful and so much more. This is an excellent write you have here, you should be proud.
Keep up the great work,
---etrangere -
I love acrostics, though I've not done too many. This one was definitely good. Is it a talent you've had, or one you've had to practice, practice, practice? Either way, you have done quite well. Such a creative style, acrostics are... and you have just taken off with this creativity and flew like you were born with wings.
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excellent+
the background alone allows for muse of all sorts and offers the reader a refuge from problems even as mundane as mine .The poem is " par excellence' as it takes the reader from the initial reaction and shock and rejection of all and everything , very slowly to a sort of peaceful acceptance of the illness , its hurdles etc , and then for the grand finale there seems to be a superstrong dose of courage and a determination to not let anything stand in the way of the joy and dreams and musings that life as of now still has to offer . Embrace it all , for none of us really knows when it no longer will be ours ...................
Reenie
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This is a totally awesome write. You definitely have a gift for putting your thoughts into explosive, thought provoking writes. Thanks for sharing this one.
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I firstly want to wish you peace then I want to thank you for putting into words for all , the emotions, the sadness, the hurt in such a comprehensive manner, I did enjoy the way this was written and also finally, I wish you joy and inner peace.
Edited on Sep 12, 4:44 because ''. -
Very beautiful. A very emotional piece with excellent arcostic.Haley27
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My muse wants a slap at the moment.. but I'm afraid she'd like it.. lololololol
but yeah.. your write was inspiring hun.. made me ponder about,what life brings and how far we can travel.. a great piece Gregg... well penned hun
~GILL~xxx -
this i a wonderfull piece of wor and i commentd you, this has really inspired me.keep it up with the good stuff, keep smiling for the camera and keep on keepin' on.....b3l
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excellent work Gregg, apologies no critique ~ am jaded and sad right now~ but i read and was impressed by your skill and imagery
elaine
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Oh, very nicely done, Gregg...really diggin' the imagery and wallowing in the intense emotions, lol. Excellently portrayed and glowing with haunting visuals, I really have to commend you on a delightful piece. Thanks for entering this and good luck!
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wow.this is incredibly written.it blew me away.i'd say "good luck in the contest,"but you seem not to need any.this is a winning write.ttul
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OK Gregg, have fun, glad to see you writing again
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Angel: It is Doom duh, I have been working on three of these all day, about to put up the Greek Muses in five minutes that I just finished and then another epic tomorrow on the 12 Steps of Dying According to the Lord...really busy with these festering since my operation but now they are coming out, faster than my sonnets . I will be responding to all these comments after I finish writing the third one tonight.
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Wonderful acrostics
Very good acrostics Gregg, I enjoyed all of them. You have been through a lot my friend but you are a fighter, you are going to overcome any setbacks~Love~Joan
PS. just check 3rd one, is it Dome or Doom?
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I actually have no coherant thoughts to place here, after reading that. I am at a loss. What can one say, precisely? I'm stunned...
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Good Job
You've emoted about a very bleak and sad situation and managed to infuse it with some hope. I'm impressed with your ability to be able to say so much. I usually struggle with too much brevity (if that makes any sense!) -
breath-taking
This is incredible.
I'm speechless... it's beautiful.
~Jessica -
Man if you could change your font, that would be perfect, really, if you could do caligraphy on this site, you would win, well it should win any hoot, but, with fancy writing utensils I think it would set them beyond over the edge.
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Oh how wonderful to see this, since Onerios is a dear friend of mine, and she doesn't have nearly enough entries in this contest. And not only that, but you chose the Endless as a whole, instead of a specific aspect of it, which is just brilliant in my opinion. I really loved this. Such a joy.
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That is definately a talent you've got there. it takes alot of patience and talent to do these type writes, not to mention that i adore your background here, i love the unicorns and the frog and everything.
-Lorelei -
This is a wonderful poem, it's full of hope . There is a lot of emotion in this piece. Great job, stay strong .
Kami -
Awww! That was too long for me to read but from what I did read I love it.
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Yes
I have been quietly hearing you for quite a while now Gregg. I admire you though envy you little. Your spirit is strong, though I believe that the Light is jealous of your love.
You may turn towards the shadow, drawn
but it is light that is calling.
I love you for your beauty.
and this for it is art.
Katarine
Edited on Sep 11, 8:53 p.m. because 'love has an "e"'. -
breath-taking
My God Gregg!!! I am sitting here utterly speechless. The beautiful of this piece and the emotions has overwheamled me. I'm not generally good on critiquing anyway but this one has really pulled the strings of my heart. Jacki
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wow. i'm stunned by the way you seem to form the words to your feelings.. and not vice versa. i am completely speechless. this was beautiful!
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Yes definitely even cooler
*~Rosey~*
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Thank you Rosey...I have now fixed that minor problem and it is even cooler now. gregg
Edited on Sep 11, 8:37 p.m. because ''. -
Love this Gregg it's a wonderful poem.. I looked at the contest whispers go back and check the first stanza
Awesome write though hun. Good to see something from you.
*~Rosey~*
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