The Depression Act

October 25, 2023 R J Schwartz 1835 Views 1 Comment halloween poetry, horror poetry, the depression act, Zdzislaw Beksiński

The Depression Act

The moment has arrived

When your depression falters

At least the artistic part…

Dreadful canvases of somber colors

Haunted by the blackest demons

How they held you face down

Lashed your flesh, and stabbed your soul

Screamed at your eyes wide shut

Your tales of ups and downs

How the beast would spin you round and round

Take joy in watching your destruction

Toying with your senses was the worst

How it brought the gut reactions

Tearful collapses and prompt animation

Your cloud of darkness closing in

And the great and final string

The occasional moment of hope

When healing actually starts to begin

There’s light beyond the darkness

You try in vain to reach it

But then it slams you down again

Blame it all on the depression

Each time the depth is deeper

The fall harder and the pain…

Oh, the pain is more than you can handle

But this time, something’s changed

Your precious timeline, rearranged

Your despair becomes manic

You plummet and panic

Grasping for something, anything

Yet the great beyond, and then nothing

The last rung of the ladder

Madness growing madder

A desperate grab, a meaningless stab

A shot in the dark, but to where?

Now you hang there, precariously

A tempest swinging like a pendulum

Weakness echoing in the vastness

Muscles tensing, tearing, straining

You stare up at the empty void

Wondering when, and who

Where’s that helping hand

Every time, but not this time

No one’s coming, you missed the chance

The stage is yours and yours alone

Remember when they stood in line

The applause of many helping hands

That attention was your craving

Your diet grew of constant need

Icy fingers and deadly tongue

Lapped the energy of the giving ones

Your sphere of darkness grew

Drew in everyone you knew

It kept you going, but the knowing

One by one they seen it through

Walked away in self-preservation

But you refused to drop the ruse

Until the ruse decide to drop you

Your body waits in an easy chair

But your mind has gone

It won’t be long

The real beasts will come to play

Unhinged, corrupted

And here to stay

Additional Reading

If you enjoyed the Depression Act, here are some additional links to visit

R.J. Schwartz is an American Poet and Author.

His complete works on The Creative Exiles Website can be found here

The Gypsy Thread is a huge collection of his original work

Ralph also writes on HubPages

Citations

The Cover Photo is by Zdzislaw Beksiński (1955-2005), a Polish Artist who specialized in apocalyptic paintings.

Author
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R J Schwartz

I write about everything and sometimes nothing at all.I'm fascinated by old things, rusty things, abandoned places, or anywhere that a secret might be unearthed.I'm passionate about history and many of my pieces are anchored in one concept of time or another.I've always been a writer, dating back to my youth, but the last decade has been a time of growth for me.I'm continually pushing the limitations of vocabulary, syntax, and descriptive phrasing.