Visions envelop us warm and dear Afflictions nurtured, unfathomable depths Its art form leaves us sullied, smitten Born from our mortality Brushes stroke sanity never so gentle Lost; deranged in a crippled mind Scratching the surface – nuance denied Devoid of spectrum – here we are blind Worlds bare and stricken (beckon me) Fears beyond counting (lost within) Trapped in the core of our sanctum Tell me, where is the purpose? Lost in the half-lives once spent On fading memories and times that never were By nature this hellhole will persist Fed far too long – now festers within This part of me that is not me Yet without which I’d cease to be Nightmares consume, futures unfold How could we rest with such stories untold? We may be mere human; from what we have seen Beyond this vessel there are worlds between Behold, as I watch from the shadows A stranger looks back from far away realms An altogether different hue Surrounded by maelstroms of wistful tunes I am locked in an aura of dissonant chords Hear them die on the searing winds Caressing hands they sculpt a resonating void Familiar whispers and mocking throats Mimicking the unsung vowels flowing from the heart A counterweight here made flesh Where time fleets and seeps in a purgatory of meaning and structure Forever lost within and without, through the nothing and nowhere Harnessing the madness I swore would be the end of me Turned ashes into glory to last beyond my time Striving for perfection I turned the very stars Still it’s not enough – forever unfulfilled Trudging through the path, step by torturous step Insight waits for me; emptiness made real No sight, no senses, no feelings, no more Climax closes in Buried underneath – all that should have been The guilt of non-creation Grueling is the search for the master’s piece Ever so slightly out of reach Mournful statues wail; empty sockets judge “Father, why have you denied us eyes?” The past is but a fading shroud Now let go and stride with sure step through these halls Visions struck me blind - I have no need for eyes Here I am the one who dreams the way Enigma at the end of all A sapphire cruel, so radiant and vast As I reach out to touch it crumbles, as do I I am reborn and closer to my transience