The New Adventures of Mr Stephen Fry » Topic: For Stephen and all the other manic depressives out there...

The New Adventures of Mr Stephen Fry » Topic: For Stephen and all the other manic depressives out there... http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/for-stephen-and-all-the-other-manic-depressives-out-there Just another bbPress community en-US Fri, 24 May 2013 19:30:42 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 <![CDATA[Search]]> q http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/search.php Sullivan the Poet on "For Stephen and all the other manic depressives out there..." http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/topic/for-stephen-and-all-the-other-manic-depressives-out-there#post-68138 Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:54:36 +0000 Sullivan the Poet 68138@http://www.stephenfry.com/forum/ 'The Black Dog..' Oh faithless cur! Black curse’d hound, that soundless in my shadow walks; Who dogs my heel by but a bound, and in each footfall cunning stalks; Then dare I lay to beg my rest, pants dark and brooding ‘pon my chest. And there in siege each wakeful hour, assails my wits this mongrel spawn; About my mind’s ill fortressed tower, until the limp, exhausted dawn; Yet still the beast no sojourn takes, and with my faintest stir – Awakes. While still its foetid breath pervades, the farthest of my spirit’s deeps; To spread again its visc’ral shade, all sly from ‘top my chest it creeps; To crouch upon my chamber’s floor, twixt me and madness’ open door. To seek the air in anxious flight, I wrench my windows open wide; But yet the dawning’s purging light, braves not upon the fiend inside; And tighter still my chest constrains, to gulp what taintless air remains. ‘Til stifled thus I flee my room, to soothe my throbbing heart a while; And freed I of that morbid womb, hap purge my breast its vapours vile; But bright the sun and sharp the air, serves nought to lighten my despair. How bright the rays that blessed star, serve but to black my shadow more; All better questing eyes to bar, the loathsome creature at its core; Which sensing reason strain and crack, climbs foul and heavy ‘pon my back. ‘Til bold it dares my shoulders rise, where all on razor claws it hangs; To snuff and huff and hid my eyes, unsheathe its’ wetly glist’ning fangs; In savour of the feast to come, when reason must, o’erwhelmed, succumb. And burdened thus about my days, one foot within dementia’s hall; My morbid melancholy plays, the hell hound’s loyal, crushing thrall; Until fresh tortures it devise, and dreadful, frightless, panics rise. Its breath all sulph’rous on my neck, like fire begins my skin to burn; All sense no longer at my beck, as wretched knees to jelly turn; While fearful lungs denied their fill, ask thund’ring heart pound harder still. Oh! would that heart seek leave to burst, in those black moments if it plead; To bear not one more hour thus cursed, to cheat the beast I’d gladly cede; But fierce as in my chest it leaps, It labours on and silent keeps. Until the dawn that gentle steals, upon the day in tender lights; That brave my chamber floor reveals, to sweep away the terrored nights; No curse’d hound acrouch the floor, and there, shut tight, stands madness’ door. My heart, once more, its frenzy stilled, thuds softly in my grateful chest; And greedy lungs once more swell filled, while tortured nerves seek to their rest; ‘Til humour, freed, untethered lifts, to look anew on being’s gifts. To feel each blade ‘gainst naked feet, I brave the nettles’ acid stings; So clear the air, its perfume sweet, conveys each note the skylark sings; Cry Carpe Diem! – “Seize the day!” While hell’s dark hound seeks other prey! Then do I praise my stoic heart, which gravely tried no mercy asked; My will, all twist and tore apart, that stood its ground though sorely tasked; Their gift to me another dawn, another breath so grateful drawn. Though still a cautious shadow lurks, the brightest day can not dispel; For in my psyche’s darkest murks, stands stiff ajar the road to hell; Where in the pit its hunger burns, until the beast, to feed, returns! © Sullivan the Poet 2008 <a href="http://www.sullivanthepoet.co.uk">http://www.sullivanthepoet.co.uk</a>