Hello Darkness My Old Friend
Life
Hello Darkness my old friend,
It’s good to meet with you again.
For your advice my ear I’ll lend,
Perhaps my sad life you can mend.
Disappointment comes and goes
Adding to all my other woes.
At least I’ve got my hands and toes,
Like pretty flowers in planted rows.
Crawling creatures give me chills,
I need the rollercoaster thrills.
I have so many different ills,
Popping a multitude of pills.
Like a speeding bullet to the brain
My waking world is wracked with pain.
Most people think that I’m insane,
But I’d rather not wake up again.
Nightmares invade my troubled sleep
Where monsters lurk and demons creep.
I surface from the murky deep,
Ascending mountains much too steep.
Stress and worry are the trends,
Suffered by most of my friends.
We need more money to meet ends,
The greedy banker always lends.
I know my life has gone off track,
Creditors are on my back,
Enemies wait to attack.
Indifference is all I lack.
Life in general needs to change,
Mixed information gets exchanged,
My attitude’s in need of change,
Sometimes I think I am deranged.
There must be somewhere I can go
That isn’t hot but doesn’t snow,
Where there is rain, but the wind don’t blow.
Where is this place? I need to know.
Love and lust are both the same.
Intimacy is just a game.
Seductresses are there to tame.
I’ve been and gone, but at least I came.
How I wish to change my skin,
Escape this shell that I am in.
I’d rather be a man of tin
Than flesh and blood and full of sin.
I’m locked up in a metal cage,
It fills me with eternal rage.
I cannot verbally engage,
It’s like I am a hermit sage.
Sometimes I need to vent my ire,
Reignite my inner fire.
Creative writing’s my desire
That pulls me from this sinking mire.
Forgive me for this feeble verse,
Sometimes it seems my pen is cursed.
If it didn’t rhyme it would be worse,
My muse is a psychiatric nurse.
So, tell me now and tell me true,
Just what this verse may mean to you?
Does it make you sad and blue,
Or sorry that you read it through?
by John Hansen 2017
Now I find myself branching out and experimenting with short fiction, and thoroughly enjoying this, especially flash fiction.
I have been fortunate to have two poems made into songs and recorded. The first "On the Road to Kingdom Come" by Al Wordlaw, and the second, "If I Could Write a Love Poem" by award-winning Israeli/British singer Tally Koren.
My services increasingly in demand as a freelance writer and I have ghost-written the text for a number of children's books and educational tutorials.
It has taken me many years of searching and restlessness to realise that my life's passion is to write. It saddens me that I wasted so many years not devoting to that, but thinking positively, the experiences gained over those years are now wonderful material for my stories and poems.
I want to try to bring a new focus on poetry and try to make it appealing to a new generation of young people and those who thought they never liked or understood it before.
- The First Word – A Flash Fiction Story - January 18, 2024
- Dawns Song ~ and Twilight Serenade - December 1, 2023
- Weave Me a Story - June 15, 2023
Dear me! Great phrasing and rhyme, John, but holy cow! Do cheer up and write a love poem so I know you are really okay. It was fun to read, though.
Haha, Phyllis..maybe I do need to write another love poem. I am ok, really. Thanks for reading this though and the kind comments.
To answer your final verse, this made me feel sad, but not sorry to read it through… I felt more empathy…to know those dark places that can really overcome. Very well expressed John, unfortunately, many can relate.
Best,
Mel
We all have our darker moments, Melissa. It always helps to express them in writing. Thanks for revealing how this made you feel.
Cheer up Mate!
Good advice, John. I will 🙂
I am definitely not sad or sorry to read through. I loved this. Those dark places are part of us all. Sometimes pure magic can come out of understanding that dark side. The rhyming was tremendous very well done John. Nice work. ~Paul
Thank you, Paul. Although what I write tend to be cheerful and uplifting on the most part, I feel my best work are in my darker pieces. Cheers.
I feel the same about my work, I think the darker side opens up depths the light dare not to tread in.
Gee, John, it’s getting very dark in here! For light relief try the contests on PoetrySoup! Cheers
Not sorry at all my friend, and we all relate, the pressures of today’s living can take a toll. For me, I live in another realm, without most of which you speak. I may be a recluse, but a happy one: neither rich nor poor, in solitude and calm I find peace and joy in the written word. A most poignant piece of human woe. Lol Great work John.
Thank you, Tony. It seems you are in a very good place. I can relate to that a lot of the time and am often at my happiest in solitude. It always seems to be others around me that get me down at times.
I’m with Tony on this one. Recluse isn’t such a bad thing, we pick our friends and choose them very carefully. I’m content keeping a very low profile in my surroundings. Some when I’m asked, “how long have you lived here” I say the past 3 years, their come back with surprise is, “where have you been, I’ve never seen you around here.” I grin and say little more. I love my privacy, I suppose to it comes after many years of being in the busy corporate world with so many busy bodies moving about. So my friend, cheer up, all is not lost. We can’t chose our family, but we sure can pick our friends. This was a deep meaning poem, many feelings weaved through it all, I could associate with many of them. Thankfully I’ve never let them totally consume me, I’ve done most things in my life with moderation and it’s paying off in my approaching senior years. Kudos John, well written poem. Cheers
Thank you for your wise and relevant comment as always, Vincent. I have suffered most of these woes at some stage but never all at once. My wife has to pop a multitude of pills for various conditions but is receiving more natural therapy now. The only pills I take are PPMP magnesium tablets.
Life has its ups and downs but I do prefer being reclusive.
So glad Vincent brought this poem back around, John. It has a special meaning for me right now and I enjoyed reading it again. Thank you for sparking some embers in my heart. Take care, my dear friend.
Thank you, Phyllis. I am glad this is relevant at the present time. I hope it helps in some way.
Brilliant, John! Crawling things give me the creeps, too, btw. Perfectly fitted to the rhythm of song by, Garfunkle. Was this written for a contest? I bet you won! Splendid poem! I I am having trouble posting this because my server is going in and out…losing connection.
Glad to see you managed to post this comment eventually, Tamara. No, it wasn’t written for a contest, but was inspired by the Simon and Garfunkle song. It was written during one of my depressing periods, but all is good now. Thanks for reading.