Exiled from their union, the wraiths surged about the skies and seas, weaving their sorcery. As a squall they raged, consumed by their ire, buffeting the flames which incinerated the island. In lament they screeched, and their tumult was the knell of thunder. Imbued by fire, they swept to raze the shore in lightning. Their typhoon quaked the earth, and conjured maelstroms amidst the ocean.
Poison seethed beneath the soil. Nourished by corruption, brambles and briers rose in malignancy, laced with venom and shadow, and tempered by infernos. Miasma mingled with smoke, casting a virulent pall across the isle. A wilderness flourished in putrefaction, embellished by flame and moonlight.
A solitary ship strayed then into the vortex of calamity.
Clarity 
So many mentions of shadows and darkness throughout this blog. Here’s hoping some strong storm will happen soon to clear the path so light can spread.
I’m searching for light in the shadows, and already embroiled in the storm.
I hope you’ll have a safe spot to wait until it’s over.
The words are my shelter, and my refuge. I think I have to brave the storm to find the answers – or maybe the questions.
Sometimes even the worst of storms bring life and light for their passing. Sometimes we need them in order to understand the answers to our own questions. Sometimes there is no reason for a storm, yet in surviving it we are made stronger than ever. But then it could be said that, if a storm without purpose made you stronger, that new strength was in fact the storm’s purpose…. so ask questions, seek answers, seek strength and shelter- but don’t shy away from expression or self simply because it draws on harder and harder storms. When it rains, we stand, and when it pours, we stand taller– not to blind stubbornness, not to the point where it damages us and ourselves, but to the point that the rain lifts- and we can again find our way.
It is better to stand and be struck down believing what you know to be right than to sink into despair and and believe only what you are told. Storms pass– ALL storms pass, and these bodies are temporary. We don’t know anything other than that– to brave the storm to find the answer is something so many wish they could do, but more often than not they allow fear to take control. And we should never allow fear to control us…..
…and that was bouncing off of what you wrote earlier. I didn’t mean to intrude!
So, yeah. Hi! I’m Eris. I saw you follow and like, earlier. So I clicked and then words happened. I like this poem– it’s at once rough and beautiful. The rhythm of it is odd, but it’s still an excellent work. Just thought I’d drop by and say hello (and follow back, because this poetry is pretty). I hope that whatever place you find yourself in, you also find health, personal growth and happiness.
Cheers,
Eris
Thank you so much for your comment! Your words are very inspiring. All my poems/stories are exercises in catharsis, to purge the darkness and exorcise the demons. They don’t seem so petrifying when you can face them on the page. And the storms themselves, I believe, exist to temper us. I just hope I can find the melody lost in its din, the fortitude to endure and strive to reforge or move on in the wake of the tempests. I think there’s some mote of tranquility to find in the acceptance of the turmoil before us – just as the rhythm may falter, but resonate still in crystalline symphony. I hope the same contentment blesses your own life. Thank you so much for stopping by – I love your work.
I’m happy I could inspire you! And overjoyed that you like my work. Honestly, ‘Bones’ is alright– a different style than my usual freeverse work, and way more rhymey. It’s no less an expression of me, but I feel like the rhymes limit the rhythm somehow– if I were to write it again I would modify them a little….
I agree that there’s tranquility to be found in acceptance of pain and chaos. Most of my life has been plagued by that chaos– not necessarily negatively, but it has been harder at some times than it should be or ought to be, I feel. I strive to be content with the things that I have done, to never look back and feel as though I needed to do it differently the first time– to know the difference between growth and granted knowledge, and to understand that for all intents and purposes, it’s the growth (skill through work) that makes us better people, and the knowledge we are granted (our talent without skill) that makes us arrogant fools. To truly become stronger, I feel that in all ways we can accept gifts as they come, seek out others and help them live better lives, and grow in ourselves through the strife in our own lives (hopefully while being helped through that strife by the friends we’ve made).
But enough of that! A short thank-you-thank-you has just been made into a long Thing.
I look forward to reading more from you.
Cheers again,
Eris
This actually sounds like the opening for a really good fantasy series. You could take this to another level. Add a few moons and really rock this thing 🙂
Thank you! Don’t worry, the story is still unfolding. Every post is interconnected, and will hopefully weave together to form a unified – at times fantastical, spiritual and supernatural – tale. It is purely metaphorical, though I am striving to craft a story through that imagery.
It is profound imagery and I could go there for a while. I am wanting to know the purpose for the solitary ship and if it has a mission, and if it has recently triumphed?
This was actually a flashback (you’ll notice in many of my other posts, I write in present tense), which culminated in shipwreck. I will say, however, that its blight is predicated upon a – perhaps deluded – faith in salvation. Its quest is at once completed and unfulfilled, and thus bound in stasis. Apologies for the paradoxes and riddles – this story is one of shadows and uncertainty. Some of the other posts may provide more insight into the tale for you! Thank you again for your comments.
Your choice of words and how you string them together is beautiful. Powerful imagery. I had to think of oil spills for some reason. Thick black oil taking over an island and making it uninhabitable.
Thank you so much for your lovely comment! I think that would be an appropriately bleak extension of the imagery!
Take heart. The light is creating the shadows. The other side of what stands between you and the light is shining. It’s all a matter of perspective.
That’s exactly why I fear the light. Thank you for your comment – but this blog is a symbolic catharsis, so worry not. These words might intimate at discontentment in my life, but they’re the very reason I’m happy. It’s better to exorcise the demons than permit them to seethe and rend you within. The persona’s journey is not yet over. Thank you for your concern.
I understand. I was just picking up on one of your comments. Shadows and light exist together, so I can understand what yo’re saying.
Anyway, I’m Jewish and just got one of my daily emails from an organization called Chabad. It’s a little poem I thought you might appreciate:
At the final ascent,
he clings to any crack or crevice
to pull higher.
That is where we are now:
Any spark of light that comes your way,
squeeze all you can from it.
have a contented day,
melisa
Thank you so much! That poem is beautiful.
Thank you for following my blog. It has its own darkness as I seek to free myself from the spiral of seizures. I’m fascinated by your writing and will be back for more.
I am so sorry to hear of your hardship. Thank you for taking the time to peruse my writing – I wish you the strength and faith to endure the vagaries of the shadows. They may manifest themselves inexorably, yet we permit them to haunt us. I know you will find liberation from their bondage – perhaps, indeed, in the release of artistic creation, and the necessary confrontation in catharsis. Remember that they do not reign you – do not surrender to them. There is such grace, and refulgence, in your writing – I know the demons have not preyed upon every vestige of light. The aurora blazes still in your soul – hold to each glimmer, unyieldingly.