Visions from Within the Mist

18 Comments

Poem Commentary

 To draw attention to the hopelessness of the addicts world.

Visions from Within the Mist

 

Looking outward from within the mist

The world provides a plethora of visions

Some real, some struggling to exist

All seen through darkly clouded prisms

 

The mind attempts to focus, but to no avail

Reality is but an illusion at best

The human mind too frail

To see, to grasp, to wrest

 

Life becomes cluttered with fragments of thoughts

And one spirals downward out of control

Each step forward subject to lingering plights

Grabbing, twisting and shredding the soul

 

How did the spirit get to this place?

Devoid of body. No escape to be seen

Smoke rises from nowhere in an eerie embrace

Suddenly fright is transformed to the serene

 

One drifts for hours in the grasp of pleasure

No thoughts of body. Only divine spiritual repose

The mind free to explore at its leisure

All things possible for it to compose

 

As suddenly as serenity arrived it is lost

Replaced by the feeling of rising from the dead

Body reattaching to the spirit at painful cost

The mist clearing. The ache pounding in one’s head

 

The coldness of the concrete presses against the cheek

Noise crashes into the mind with irresistible force

The alley is deserted as you struggle to speak

There is no one to hear you. There is only the voice of remorse.

 

The needle and syringe lie inches away

Faces of those long lost from your life appear - and then disappear

The needle holds you totally at bay

Heroin is your master. To its command you must adhere.

 

Your hands tremble as you tear open the tiny sack

The spoon accepts it and fire beneath it brings melting heat 

The needle dips into the bubbling liquid… no turning back

One stroke and the journey back into the mist is complete           

 

©Copyright Charlie Gragg Oct. 19, 2009

Poem Comments

(18)

Please login or register

You must be logged in or register a new account in order to
leave comments/feedback and rate this poem.

Login or Register

SavVySam commented on Visions from Within the Mist

11-03-2009

Such a sad existence. I attended a drug seminar once and I most remembered the insidiously seductive hold Heroin seemed to have on those who gave testimony. An important and timely message.

Hampton

11/03/2009

Thank you for readng and commenting.

IzzyGumbo commented on Visions from Within the Mist

10-27-2009

Wow this is an amazing write my friend! Your words create a very vivid picture of addiction.

Hampton

10/28/2009

Thank you very much.

Hiporlacking commented on Visions from Within the Mist

10-23-2009

I believe it was Bayer that first marketed heroin as a non-addictive alternative to morphine. Talk about a fumble. I've known more than a few people who have lost their lives to opiates. Some dead...others zombified. It's very sad to say say someone has lost their life, while their heart is still beating. You are talented to have written this but not experienced it. Either that or you caught that documentary on the history channel the other day. Either way...well done Hampton

Hampton

10/23/2009

Thank you very much. Although I have never personally experienced it the mere writing of this poem tore at my flesh as I imagined the cruelty of the disease.

JCKasper commented on Visions from Within the Mist

10-23-2009

The harsh reality of life --- So sad, but true! We can only pray that our loved ones, especially our children, do not fall victim to this insidious self-destructive path!

Hampton

10/23/2009

Well said. Thank you.

devaamido commented on Visions from Within the Mist

10-22-2009

Hampton, this is very good poem, in that it expresses your point of view in terms that are so viscerally repugnant it would inspire almost anybody not to get into that. It's not that what you've said isn't true... it mostly IS true...but at the same time, these aren't the words an actively using heroin user would describe this experience...it's like a guy from our generation would write it...not that there's anything bad about that...matter of fact I like it.

Hampton

10/23/2009

As I have no direct experince with drug addicts, or even hard drugs for that matter, my descriptions are based on my own imagination which I am sure was inspired by stories I have read or movies I have seen.

Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.

Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC) Greek philosopher.

Hampton’s Poems (111)

Title Comments
Title Comments
Searching 5
The Poetess 14
Nonsense 12
Solitude 18
Lame Limericks 14
Message to Papa 15
Young Jimmy O’Fallon 11
The Computer From Hell 18
Life Ain’t for Sissies 16
The Mind In Motion 13
The Game of Poetry 9
Silence 55
WordSlinger 19
Holiday Thoughts 12
Sweet Mary 18
From White to Grey to Black 19
The Reckoning 12
And All of That Jazz 16
Today 25
No Offense, Just My Opinion 16
Lucky 10
You’re Only as Old as You Feel 13
Saturday Night 13
Political Change? 14
The Female Gender 17
I’m In Charge Here, Aren’t I? ( With Epilogue) 10
I’m In Charge Here, Aren’t I? 7
Remembering 11
This Web We Weave 13
The End 16
The Day the Clouds Cried 16
The Path of Life 12
My Mother Ruth 12
Forever–ast
er
11
Humanities Challenge 14
A Cowboy's Perspective 12
July in Buda Texas 14
The OP Poets Parade 20
The Chatelaine 12
Shot Through the Heart 17
Poetry and Fine Wine 18
The Man What Am 10
The Final Beat of My Heart 16
The Rainbow of Poets 19
A Cowboy's Lament 13
Of This World I am Not 17
The Wee People 19
An Evening at an Irish Pub 15
The Scent of Love 14
Fresh News from Buda Texas 16
Memories of Times Past 13
The Dance of the Poets 20
The Confession 14
Road to Obscurity 18
Barbara 14
Shadows 15
Prescience 17
Words That Bind 54
Wondering 26
New Year News from Buda Texas 13
We Are All Witnesses 16
Christmas 25
A Cowboy’s Prayer 29
The 9 ers 24
Love Defined 27
Tis a Time to Give Thanks 21
More News From Buda Texas 26
Choices 26
News from Buda, Texas 21
In Search of God 21
Writers of Poems (WOPs) 26
Out of the Darkness 15
Visions from Within the Mist 18
Baseball 12
The Night Stalker 16
The Man I Presume to be Buck 16
The Sounds of Time 17
The Little Man in the Green Hat 18
Blah Blah Blah 14
One Two Three 13
Carpe Viam 11
Love in the Afternoon 13
The Moth 14
Lost & Dungeons of the Mind 11
The Creative Process 19
The Truth and the Tribe 19
The Long Wait. 19
Feathers 26
The Arrow 14
Take Two Cialis and Call Me in the Morning 26
Ghostly Images 16
Friends 11
Angels Without Wings 20
IN MY OWN WORDS 13
The Rider 16
Pride and Shame 18
The Winning Poet is.... 21
Memories 13
Politicians 67
Your Mailbox Is Empty 18
God's Visit 17
Poets and Poems 20
Love Thy Neighbor 13
Renewal 8
The Roar of Silence 17
Blessed Are These Days 4
Time and Space 5
Life's Journey 8
Gift To The Fallen 16
Hunger 21
The Antique Shop 30