my mind is a warehouse
of remembered regrets
and forgotten dreams
of past mistakes
and forsaken ideals
where my wretched
is stored alongside
my frail and fractured
with my best and good
and wins and successes
the mind is a warehouse
a breeding ground
for visions
and revisions
mistakes and half missteps
where my most deplorable
thoughts, theories and ideals
live and breathe to fight
against my moral compass
where flickering lights
illuminate the dusty corners
and locked rooms, the rooms
that should never be opened
if the doors are ever unlocked
my darkness creeps and seeps
into my cracks and crevices
spreads throughout
infecting everywhere
still the need to open
the need to unleash
explore and work
through and against
where balance
where order
esteem and conscience
happiness and contentment
are possible
if my darkness, my blackness
my diseased poison
is devenomised
when the bright and bold
golden sunshine
warms me through
*
Thanks for reading!
Author's Notes: Open.
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About the Creator
Paul Stewart
Award-Winning Writer, Poet, Scottish-Italian, Subversive.
The Accidental Poet - Poetry Collection out now!
Streams and Scratches in My Mind coming soon!
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Comments (20)
DEVENOMISED! What a word! Excellently done as always Paul, I really enjoyed your imagery with the rooms!
A beautiful metaphor... And indeed a fitting one. A warehouse where we are forced to pack away our most beloved memories, and our most haunting ones. The lights come on in those aisles much too frequently. This reminds me greatly of a song that I love called Mansion by NF. Maybe you will find some inspiration in it, too! Here are the lyrics: https://genius.com/Nf-mansion-lyrics [Prize 3/5]
Your warehouse metaphor reminds me of the ancient practice of the Memory Palace- a building filled with rooms where each object represented a specific memory. This technique was used specifically as a memory aide. This is a beautiful poem, Paul. I love the music the structure helps evoke. And I love its broader appeal to the humanity of good memories sharing space in our hearts along with the bad.
It's nice to know that there is still hope that using the key to all that lies hidden might bring healing. My question is: How many keys do I still have & how many are missing? I've got a lot of storage compartments in there.
What a compelling introspective piece, Paul! I love the analogy of the warehouse and how you expanded it. Especially, the lines "where my wretched is stored alongside my frail and fractured with my best and good and wins and successes" Very well done!
I thought this was a really clever way of looking at your life - all stashed away in a warehouse. Love the idea of all the good things being stored alongside some of the terrible things we do. Really beautiful. Well done Paul.
As much as I want to clean out my "warehouse" it makes me the person i am today. Very raw and emotional poem.
good . please take a look at my profile
Oooo, devenomise, I like that. But it made me think of revenomise and I like that even more, lol. Loved your poem! 🍩🥐
This is raw and powerful. "where my most deplorable thoughts, theories and ideals live and breathe to fight against my moral compass" I feel like there should be a boxing ring in the middle of that warehouse.
I need some illumination of my dusty corners.
I love the vivid imagery of this poem, Paul. It is all too relatable!
Spring clean. Never does much for the cobwebs though. They always there Somewhere and everywhere, love the metaphor and the window of hope for change 💜 c
The mind is a terrible thing to waste, and you definitely do not waste yours. Good job.
Nice work. Question what was the trigger for this story? You peaked my interests. :)
Jeez, those first two lines knocked it out of the park. What an opening! And an amazing rest of the poem. The depth is just fantastic. I'll be chewing on this one for a while!
Sometimes, I wish I could clean mine out and start over. But I'd never want to lose the good memories. Great poem, Paul <3
As horrible as all that sounds to remember, at least you have a good memory. A warehouse sized memory! And a great poem’! A deep and well written poem! If I could write poetry half as good as you, I’d be happy!
Damn, that was good. Fantastic work as always, Paul. I need to know how you're able to come up with all these amazing stories and poems (though if it's as secret, I completely understand, lol). Also, love the author's notes! If I've interpreted it correctly, then that's a nice touch.
Mine is like an abandoned factory that people keep promising to reopen.