The Tomb in Your House

Cradled and comforted til you sleep

Soothed and stroked as you weep

You feel as though the walls of your tower

They would stand tall against what makes you cower

Whispered words that gave you strength of hope

That spurred you on, it helped you cope

Heat and love conspire to create

A shield to deflect all hate

Hail to a place where time stands still

Where things get turned against your will

You wish you may, you wish you might

To have had the gift of foresight

It was not all that you thought

Like the dusted photo albums that you forgot

The pages filled with the loving memories past and gone

Pursuing you, finding you even as you are withdrawn

Dreams that scar, they etch away

Trying to bring you to that new day

Dream the same thing every night

Toss and turn as your body turns white

Living a complacent existence

Not even offering up resistance

To that which curries your fear

And rips you from what you hold dear

Heard of it before, never seems to change

No wonder your brain cries out in rage

Contorted and twisted in a web of lies

Can't even look them in the eyes

It matters little, it matters not

It's the price we pay for our lot

Drew the straw at our birthright

Faced with never ending plight

Do you want to look me in the face?

Stop turning away like I'm some disgrace

But can't you see?

This person you love is no longer me

What do you mean?

Things are nothing as they seem

Take a walk and enjoy the ride

Please just stay at my side

I feel like a stranger in my house

As though there is a darkness in here to douse

It makes me wish to seek solitude

It has now all just become a habitude

To avoid presence of others

Too often dive beneath the covers

The fragmented stare when eyes meet

Conspiring in shadows, blind deceit

Worst of all, is how you cannot act

It is not your fault so don't fight back

So what am I suppose to do?

Oh if only everyone knew

The energy is gone from here

The future now remains unclear

Negativity spawns apathy

Emotionally charged insanity

Locked in cages away from light

The company of others is far too bright

Funny how a break can feel,

Turns your stomach and makes you keel

Anger comes all unchained

Unleashed from cords so strained

I cherish thoughts of times gone by

For to be in the present all I do is cry

This is a place where tears stain a blouse

I have a tomb in the middle of my house

Rising out from the ashes of discontent

The wall is the only place that I can vent

Holes punctured, testament to everlasting pain

Could not seek the wisdom i once sought, it is not the same

Horrid visions of a future with cross purposes

You learn to count the things God blesses

Strike the ticks, etched in blood

In the hopes that the tomb will wash away in the flood

Flurry of emotions raw, i just sat and prayed

Before my mind is lost, from depressions frayed

Edges of sanity are built up to hold you in

But don't forget, that strength comes from within

Nothing can get to you, but that which you let come

And do not forget, that when the tomb closes its door

It is probably best to run

Wash away the tears, blood, and sanity upon the shore...

Do not be afraid of those who want only the best

Stay a little longer at their request

You will need that shoulder to cry on now

Never thought you would have the strength to reason how

But little of that matters now, for you are alone

And it is not yet your time to atone

Fall not into a lengthy struggle

You have too many things in life to juggle

Maybe even dream away, but not to a drug

For only do they replace, they sort of shrug

Shrug them off, and still give you burden to bear

But hey my friend, I will see you there

At the end of all things...

Stephen Gellner