Epic of the Six Darknesses: VII

Epic of the Six Darknesses: VII

VII

Inside
always from the inside
I see the sixth darkness
like a spark,
a small star,
the shining lights when I rub my eyes.

This must be the darkness of stars
the source of our soul
as Plato’s Timaeus tells us,
but something happened since the fall
the center collapsed
the light lost its drive to shine
some fundamental desire for life was lost
inward energies overcome
by the deathwish
all the sunshine equations of chaos
and the higher math of fractals:

the outside pushed too hard
—bully boy
—bully boss
—bully world
beating beating beating
the power struggles are over,
no more waking
no more dark dreams to cry us
the six insides give in to the pressures:


balloon heart
breast wrinkle
penis sissy
gust bubble
a word unspoken
a poem unpublished
This is the sixth darkness
seeking the soul nipple
swallowing my light

This is where I turn and stand

This is where I turn and say
no more rape
no more milk

so far deep inside the outside,
outside wrapped tight like tomato skin around me
but here there is no one but my self

I wrestle

take the milk back in to me


fill the breast once again
blown up tight like balloons

take the seed back into me

penis stiff with desire once again

take back the poems, the words,
take back the breath that broke the bubble
breathe into the balloon heart

so it pumps like a paper bag
I wrestle

I am Dali’s eggman reaching out
into the world

somebody somebody
take my hand.


Richard Smyth

Posted over on Anabiosis Press