A Temporary Madness

There is not enough of you to survive it for long.
The energy it takes! The deviation from
the quiet norm you worked so long to cultivate.
The peace you treasured suddenly evaporated,
only the raw edges left. The angry ones.
Angry at yourself. Angry at a world,
or at least the important parts.
It’s a cycle. Like a bonfire, searing the night,
everything consumed by morning
and you are left with the ashes
and the last flickering coals.
Do not feed them, the coals.
They are liable to explode again,
burning everything in their path.
Often, that has been myself,
and the only question
(There is always a question)
is when will you stop feeding it
And what is left and how you will rebuild,
and to what. (That’s three, I know,
but somehow there are always more questiions
than answers.)

About this poem

I’ve been there. Maybe you have too.

The picture is a detail of one of my paintings, “Energy, In the Beginning”. Because every destruction is also a new beginning.

Thanks to David, for reminding me.

Tom