M.E.'s Thoughts

My strength is withered Eyes heavy with drain Awakening from sleep Less alive than the day before Arms too weighted To lift in surrender Each breath an effort Beneath leaden lungs Standing frozen The stifling air around Making slightest movement A Herculean effort Desire deadened Defeated apathy Crawling across numb skin  Curling tendrils around every limb Shadows of happiness Mocking empty days Joys of yesterday Feeding the present darkness I am finished Drained of all capacity Cumbrous weights Ground me still Worn limbs dragging Through sticky syrup The cloying sweetness Of strategic deceit Who will carry me Move my spirit From this barrenness Into a new day Who will save me From sinking deep Into sand of sorrow To stand supremely strong Who will feed me Pour out life anew Intrude my space With streams of strength

Exhaustion, Droplets streaking lines down a dusty mask Sunlight glaring off shards of shattered armour A floodlight filling the silent stage Heaving, Lungs burning raw with each inhalation Defeat and smoke mingling in recessed cavities To be sent out again with a rush Shaken, Muscles tensed and pulsating in stillness On deadened ground feet charred and blistered stand The earth wasted after the violent eruption Silence, Deafening in its peaceful lull Moments of time shocked into hesitation The field reverently posed for picture Jubilant, Arms raised in exaltation, lacerations forgotten Voice bellowing with triumph, labored breath ignored Head lifted to glory, eyes open to the sun's daze The struggle is of yesterday Threats banished from the mind Danger dissolved, energies restored Wounds beginning already to clot And in the silence A rapturous cheer The enemy has been defeated All affliction is forgotten In victory

Lounging luxuriously under a chalkboard sky The slate a cloudless, pristine cerulean Blank anticipation dripping sweetly Possibilities boundless Raising a brush loaded with imagination A swirling hand making lazy wisps Twirly cues and curls Wide, broad swings of abandon Playfully interrupted by  Intricate, patterned sketches Breezes smudging lines Shifting shapes into new creations Mingling this and that together Sweetly harmonious Leaning back in simple admiration Reaching up to swipe here Adding a splash and smatter there Amusedly, with a shake of the head The giant etch-a-sketch sky clears The canvas again heavy with expectancy A perfectly sublime way To spend a languid pause in time Painting dreams in the sky