The Convalescent
The Convalescent
Dreaming in torpor,
The sunlight aglow,
Golden as honey,
A heavenly flow,
Drifting unconscious in misery’s show,
Badgered by demons below.
Tourniquet tightness,
Confounding the sight,
Drapery linen,
All lavished in light,
Consciousness sinking in languid affright,
Into the chasms of night.
Feeling so restless,
And vacant within,
Emptiness lurking,
With hopes in a spin,
Spectres provoking abiding chagrin,
Ghosts thronging up in a din.
Old recollections,
And visions of wars,
Fantasy jetsam,
From Hadean shores,
Banshees all brandishing teeth in their jaws,
Flashes of trauma in scores.
Fidgeting fingers,
And twitching of skin,
Brokenness lingers,
And tarries within,
All of the past a kaleidoscope spin,
Blindingly lurid within.
Bandages chafing,
With ruddiness round,
Legs lying leaden,
In pain to astound,
Desperate longing in shadowy ground,
Wheezing and gasping the sound.
Feline attention,
So patient and true,
Sentinels keeping,
Their master in view,
Sitting unflinching and dotingly too,
Keeping their love burning true.
Eyes of obsidian,
Whiskers of white,
Prostrate together,
In friendship’s delight,
Keeping their master in dutiful sight,
Fearless by day and by night.
Praying for vigour,
And dignified cheer,
Hoping for blessings,
In vistas austere,
Wishing to conquer this fever and fear,
Looking to deities dear.
Lighting the incense,
And fanning the flames,
Finding a resonance,
Staking their claims,
Praying in earnest and sounding out names,
Stillness so pure in their frames.
Sounding petitions,
To stars of the sky,
Seeking Osiris,
With fire in his eye,
Work in alacrity, speedily fly!
Nurture his lip hanging wry!
Afternoon doldrums,
Be gone by our prayer!
Fill up his lungs,
With restorative air,
Give him his radiance, gusto and flair,
Stalwart we offer our care…
adamdaniel 