…in the catacombs of my mind
Tread lightly in love
for there is quicksand underfoot
and shallow waters
that disguise their true depths
from the unwary traveller
heed my gentle warning
for I was once that traveller
an untamed fire, my flames wild
and dancing in the wind
unaware that the tides
that gently ebbed and flowed
in such beauty that they drew me in
would eventually consume me
and I would find myself drifting weightless
unable to see where the shore ends
and the ocean begins
where the space
between pleasure and pain
is just a sliver, a mere breath
where in a fragment of a second
eternity whispers of unreached dreams
and of things undone
the dark secrets and words unspoken
the things that I set free
yet still held deeply
in the shadowed corners of my soul
and in the shelves hidden
in the caverns of my mind
where all that I ever contemplated
even for a moment, is deposited
hidden away from the light of day
out of sight out of mind
crowding the corners
and the backrooms of my memory
far away from today
lingering like a beloved fragrance
or the tune of a favourite song
the words now long gone
these are the walls that I hide behind
where pieces of you are deeply buried
in places that even I cannot find
the things that made me who I am
now lost in the catacombs of my mind
the infinite darkness my canopy
now gently reaches over me
I hide here in the shadows
where only the eyes of the night can see
the veils of the moon blanket me
her silver shrouds of mystery
creating galaxies upon my skin
and I am trying not to drown
in the melancholy flowing over me
as the depths of sorrow pull me down
© Ann Bagnall
