Creator / imaginer: Dabbler in art, literature and sound.
Deep within yourself break the waves of a vast black ocean,
It stretches beyond all time and space, capped by a star-filled sky,
In its fathomless depths, exists the end of all mankind,
Doom slumbers there, tentacled and terrible,
Kept silent for eons under waves, since falling from the sky,
Something within the darkness now stirs, an awakening,
Ice cold is the ocean and countless are her secrets,
Nothing is lost forever, the titan will soon awaken,
For you are no longer its keeper.
Existing in a brilliant white light, orbiting at perihelion, bathing in the warmth of the sun’s glow,
Basking in pure bliss, this should last forever, however, the mind drifts into deep space,
Thoughts fire like lightning bolts, sparking imagination, and conjuring forgotten memory,
Doubt appears through tainted thoughts, and erodes the perfect white edges of the mind,
The memory fragments, thoughts float away, and the last bright white vision fades to black,
Unseen hands pull from deep space, the mind drifts away, far from the sun, and into aphelion,
Icy darkness freezes thought, and the only light left is a glimmer of stars through icy shards.
This poem was the foundation for my ambient electronic album Aphelion, which is part two of my Interstellar trilogy of albums. I released all three albums in 2023, you can listen to the album in full on Youtube and it is also available on all music platforms.
For Reference: Aphelion, in astronomy, is the point in the orbit of a planet, comet, or other body most distant from the Sun.
The gaping mouth of the waterfalls is forged by the river of lies, which flows with the tears of the suffering, the falls flow constantly, even below the surface.
Liars float above the current, greedily feeding on their victims, before bathing fat and bloated on the shore.
The deceived are drowned beneath white capped waves, held heavy with the chains of loyalty that shackle them.
Their broken bodies are weighed down by great stones of deceit, before being swept over the falls, discarded onto the rocks below.
Falling out of their dreams, and into the horrible reality of facing a new day’s sun.
With one last exhale, he steps from his doorstep and into the inky black darkness outside,
His body begins to rise gently in the warm black scentless air, slowly drifting up into space.
He always felt that his front door led to the end of the world, and he was correct.
Crossing his feet together, then arms across his chest, he closes his eyes and lets the drift take him,
Within moments he’s in the atmosphere, still, no longer rising, there above the earth he hovers,
Invisible currents gently tug at him as his body floats in orbit above a bright glowing world below,
There is a serene internal warmth, a comfort, no more pain, stress, or sadness, a feeling of relief.
The glowing warmth of the sun reflecting from the earth below him doesn’t last however,
He feels himself violently tugged into the darkness behind the earth, cold and anxiety fill his system.
Now in complete darkness, he begins to fall back into the dark world below him.
There’s no heat as he re-enters the atmosphere, but he begins to freeze, blinded by ice and darkness,
Rocketing downward like a human missile aimed at his own rooftop, at impact he opens his eyes. He finds himself standing inside his home, hand on the front doorknob as he prepares to leave
Asleep, yet awake, deep within the black range,
Her breath a rumble felt in the bowels of the earth.
For six thousand years she has slept, waiting to rise,
Her fury quelled by the darkness in which she lies.
Every thunder crack of storm is a cry from the cosmos,
Her distant Prince pining for the one he’s denied,
Beneath a black mountain of forests deep and peaks divine,
The lightning, a conduit of love between the earth and the sky.
Worshipped by the surface-dwelling cult of the serpent,
Who enact rites, preventing the ancient sleeper from stirring,
She remains imprisoned below, while away in the stars,
The fury of a love lost Prince grows without her in his arms,
Two divided serpents with eyes of fire, and mighty limbs encased in scales,
Kept apart by a death cult of outsiders, who fear the prophecy of their union,
She is an imprisoned deity, coiled up beneath a mountain of rock and dirt,
And he, her leviathan lover, has a black heart made of stardust, shadows and hurt.
A time will soon come when the ancient princess will awaken,
And her prince will punish mankind, by whom she was taken,
They will bring the earth total doom and utter devastation,
And once united, they will erase all traces of life in retaliation.
When the prophecy is fulfilled, they will return to the cosmos,
Back beyond the stars where the ancient ones reside,
Existing beyond all time and space in the infinite darkness,
Two serpents entwined once again, far from the earth’s lifeless carcass.
Closing your eyes, you exhale the stale air of the day’s hurt,
The clean, cool new air of home replaces the sickly, anxious heat,
You are wrapped in your safe darkness, your sanctuary of solace,
The darkness behind your eyes begins to erupt into a misty haze of colour,
You feel yourself begin to lift, and light as air, your mind begins to drift,
Your journey to the kingdom of colour, across the ocean of dreams, has begun.
You float slowly, facing the stars, as time, planets and reality slip from sight,
You feel the breeze as you speed across a calm ocean surface,
Eventually slowing as your mind makes landfall, crossing a coast into fields of azure,
You drift slowly above fragrant flora, and a pink sky spirals into cool blue clouds above,
As the warmth of the sun embraces you, caressing your skin,
You begin to rise, the stars reveal themselves, sweet fragrances fill your senses.
Gently, you begin to spiral, drifting through space, your toes leading the way home,
Time passes, the drifting gently ceases, and you float weightless, motionless,
Below you lies your sleeping body, open and peacefully awaiting your return,
You gently roll, floating back into yourself, your mind cleansed by the journey,
The colours cease, you open your eyes, and once again breathe the cool air of reality.
Just one slip into unconsciousness,
Beyond a screaming doorway drowned in ocean water,
Razor sharp thorns pierce the skin and shed the blood.
A black blood drifts from wounds like storm clouds in salt water,
Serpent-like tentacles grip, tug and constrict,
Dragging the world down into the darkest shadows of sleep,
Into the realm of desolation and despair,
Doom absolute, engulfed by the blue green deep,
Here we sleep, floating, lifeless, and motionless,
Struggle is over, everything here is silent, cold, and still.
The stars overhead continue to shine upon that false calm surface.
There was a clockwork boy, with a clockwork heart,
He tried to be like the other kids,
But he felt different from the start.
They would run and play together and seemed to be as one,
But the clockwork boy could not join in,
For he felt sad and that was not much fun.
He’d wear a different mask each day to trick his clockwork brain,
But his clockwork heart was broken,
And he soon felt sad again.
He met a girl with a golden key, that she used to wind his heart,
And the boy never wore a mask again,
For she was clockwork just like him, and they would never part.
I thought I'd try my hand at a poem for younger people, I grew up with the poems of the late Doug Macleod, whom I got to know in later life. This was inspired by his book In the Garden of Bad Things, the very first poetry book I ever owned as a small boy. I like the rythm and the fun of this type of simple poetry, and while I'm doing my best to develop my writing on this site, I think I'd like to explore this area further.
Dan Verkys 