Face Not the Dark Alone

#mentalhealthawareness

A murky mist malignantly

Expands and casts about

A winter of our discontent

As all the lights go out.

Shss! Shss!

The shadows softly moan!

Press on with care, but, foul or fair,

Face not the dark alone.

 

A monster haunts the dismal core,

Though visibly unclear.

He hovers in the musty air,

And feeds upon our fear.

Hrr! Hrr!

He means to seize your throne!

None should be shy with stakes so high-

Face not the dark alone.

 

The rain may pelt such icy storms,

The wind may fiercely blow.

Our gardens may be overgrown 

With weeds of ill and woe.

Crrck! Crrck!

The scourge of skin and bone!

No suffered pain need be in vain,

Face not the dark alone!

 

An ear would at a word be lent,

A hand be offered, too.

The world would at a word ensure

We from our bind break through.

Wsh! Wsh!

No heart is made of stone!

Lest you in Hell shall ever dwell,

Face not the dark alone.

 

Arise towards the gleaming sun!

Embrace your comfort zone!

For you shall find no peace of mind

Against the dark alone.

-EDP

Reviews

[LazerRays]

ah, something about the darkness scares us, its a human fear, of monsters that lurk there. Its funny, really, how its only the night. When the real monsters are in the day. This was most enjoyed Emipoemi, and the sound effects are perfect in here :P

[emipoemi]

Ah, Sarah, one thing you absolutely need to know is that my poetry aint superficial......this "dark" is not the night; this "monster" isn't just any monster. Try a bit harder; dig a little deeper. The breadcrumbs are lain. But I'm so glad you enjoyed it overall. Thanks for reading.

[LazerRays]

Ah, one cannot know the exact meaning of another writing; only as we percept it. Tryst me, I do dig deep into poems, and the meaning always turns out differen

[emipoemi]

Mine tend to have one meaning though. If they have two, well that's the poem being clever, not so much me, for I am only conscious of the one.

[LazerRays]

Ah, poems do usually have one meaning and a diversion meaning. For me at least, because I never want the truth to be revealed

[emipoemi]

I tend to hide my truths in my poems. I make people think, for that's the best kind of poetry. If everything is spelled out for the readers, what fun is there in the experience? None! And a lot of modern poetry is actually that: Spelled out nonsense with nothing to say. Cause "nowadays everybody wanna talk like they got something to say, but nothing comes out when they move their lips, just a bunch of gibberish"!

[emipoemi]

You gotta dig deep for the truth.....or imagine the interpretation as you perceive it. Whatever works.

[LazerRays]

I agree with that! I have a saying I tell "write what you feel to get a poem that's real" don't spell it out as you claimed; Abstract it into a painting of different blends!

[emipoemi]

but not too cryptic, or else you lose the reader.....
Also, one of my philosophies is "Don't think, feel!" You think, you write s**t; you feel, you strike gold.

[LazerRays]

Xactly that Emipoemi! Feelings are wha move us, thoughts bore us. Move us, not bore us! That's what we need to focus on, feelings. Let them come out

[Mr. Mills]

Thoughts are kind of boring. I think it's good for me to keep my feelings inside.

[LazerRays]

Ah, but no one could relate if you kept them inside, it's therapeutic

[Emri Mills]

Feelings define who we are. You can't hide them forever. They're stuck with you. They could be a burden or your favorite thing in life.

[LazerRays]

Aye, they can be burden but they make fantastic poetry ;)

[Emri Mills]

I know I'd hear that coming from an Edgar Allen Poe fan. XD.

[LazerRays]

Hahahahahahahaha you know it XD I am a huge fan

[Mr. Mills]

I don't know too many poets. I just like authors all together.

[Emri Mills]

No, don't think about bringing up Brandon Sanderson! Remember last time when we had that conversation?

[LazerRays]

What's your favorite author?

[LazerRays]

Never heard of Brandon. What does he write?

[Mr. Mills]

We got the Brandons! Brandon Sanderson and Brandon Mull. Fantasy fan right here:)

[Emri Mills]

You can always expect the fantasy authors from Mr. Mills. I'm a Marie Lu kind of gal.

[LazerRays]

Man I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a Harry potter/ narnia/ Percy Jackson/ the lord of the rings/ the hobbit fan ;P

[Mr. Mills]

I'm a fantasy geek, we're in this together Sarah. I see you're going with classics. Cool.

[Emri Mills]

Yeah, but all those classics became movies. They we're pretty much bound to. I think some of those movies really screwed the books actually.

[LazerRays]

Ah. Have you ever read Leven Thumps? That's one of my favorites

[Mr. Mills]

A pretty decent series. You have good taste. At least I think so. Did you ever read Stephen King's stuff?

[LazerRays]

Ah, the Harry potter movies weren't so bad, they did for a book conversion. Percy Jackson, however, SUCKED! the movie was horrible! XD

[LazerRays]

Heck yeah stephen king! I'm from Maine! I was raised on him!

[Mr. Mills]

I grew up with Brandon Mull. No kidding legit I was his neighbor for a short time.

[Emri Mills]

Wait, in Idaho Falls right? When Brandon hosted all those signings?

[Mr. Mills]

Idaho Falls. The Golden Days.

[LazerRays]

My grandma went to school with Stephen king. He lives a half hour from me ;P

[LazerRays]

Hahahaha what books have Brandon written that I might know?

[Mr. Mills]

My parents used to know Brandon personally.

[Mr. Mills]

Sanderson or Mull?

[Emri Mills]

Poem Corrupter was talking some dirt to me about you earlier today Mr. Mills. Are you okay?

[LazerRays]

Either one ;P

[Mr. Mills]

Sarah: You probably know Mull from Fablehaven, Beyonders, Dragonwatch, Candy shop War, Five Kingdoms, etc...
Maybe you've heard of one of Sandersons latest books, "Skyward".
Emri: I know. Do you still love me?

[Emri Mills]

Of course. There's no deal breaker with you. I know what Sam said isn't true.

[LazerRays]

I think I have heard of some of them. Haven't read them though

[Mr. Mills]

If that's not a deal breaker what is?

[Emri Mills]

There's no deal breakers! Don't even start that conversation. We're meant for each other. I would love you if you had hair on your tongue and cancer and whenever you'd talk you'd spit. I could never stop loving you. You complete me.

[LazerRays]

You too are cute, please continue. I'll just sit here eating popcorn with my 3D glasses on XD hahahahahaha jk

[LazerRays]

*two dumb autocorrect

[Mr. Mills]

Sorry Sarah. It's dumb for us to talk like this in public.

[LazerRays]

No it isn't! You two are fine, really! ;)

[Emri Mills]

OH MR. MILLS. I am not done. What did you tell Sam about my dad? How did he find out??!! I was just going there for the weekend and Sam thinks because there's alcohol and my dad at party to think less of him. It wasn't his fault that Sam saw him at that time! Did you sort things out with him, because if you didn't I'm going to be furious! He better know what was really going on, I feel like he's going to call the police on me or something!

[Mr. Mills]

I didn't tell him anything, that's the problem. Me and Sam aren't friends anymore. He said we we're never friends. He'll never talk to me anyways.

[Emri Mills]

Then what the heck are you doing??!! You know it won't work out if I tell him.

[Mr. Mills]

I'm sorrryy. Don't leave me pumpkin:(

[Emri Mills]

I think we both need some time to ourselves. I'm going offline. You better too.

[LazerRays]

Uh uhhh....

[LazerRays]

Okkkkkkkk then.

[emipoemi]

......now this is a conversation I can dig......literature, adaptations. I really wish I was around when this was happening, because I seriously have some beefs about adaptations. The majority of them SUUUUUUUCKED!!

[Mr. Mills]

There wasn't too much good stuff really going on here. Let's sweep this under the rug.

[LazerRays]

hahahah hey, well idk what this has turned into now XD hiya

[emipoemi]

what's the point of geeking out if we don't delve into how good/bad adaptations were? Literature is one thing, I can get behind. I got arguments for adaptations too.

[LazerRays]

hahahaha this is a good thing, never knowing where things are gonna turn out

[Morgan]

say something

[LazerRays]

im giving up on you dunnnnn

[LazerRays]

sgdjfkgjh.k

[Morgan]

pineapples

[Mr. Mills]

Suddenly pineapples? This isn't helping!

[LazerRays]

hahahah pinapples are delicious!

[emipoemi]

my family is torn between the debate of pineapples on pizza.....it's becoming an inside joke now

[LazerRays]

pineapples on pizza is a gift from god

[emipoemi]

Tell that to haters of my family - lol

[LazerRays]

oh i will hahaha. Though DDR is better

[Mr. Mills]

I could never hate on anything from the Hawaiian's.

[LazerRays]

Hmm did hawaii really invent pineapple on pizza? Or is that a stereotypical thing. Never knew. But I really love Italian food better so an Italian pizza is amazing. Don't get me started on gelato

[LazerRays]

I LOOKED IT UP! IT WAS A GREEK GUY WHO INVENTED HAWAIIAN PIZZA!!! SAM PANOPOULOS! and not even in Hawaii! IN CANADA!!!!!!!!! yay Greeks!!!!!!!

[emipoemi]

YAY CANADA! ......his last name even sounds like Pineapple - lol!

[LazerRays]

HAHAH YEAHHHHH CANADA BUT MAINLY GREECE

[H L Rose]

Ya'll I just discovered I like pineapple on pizza. Avocado also is pretty good on pizza but avocado is good on everything.

[emipoemi]

Avocado is my guilty pleasure.....LOVE IT!

[Morgan]

I only like plain cheese pizza...

[emipoemi]

"A man who eats plain but lives a plain life"

[LazerRays]

Sigh, I love thing on my pizza! Black olives, pickles, onions, sausage, anything basically. And mmmmmmmmm avocado on pizza? Oh that sounds yUmmmmmmmmyyyy

[Morgan]

I feel like ojiro now...

[H L Rose]

I don't feel guilty eating avocado.
Yes! Try it on pizza it's good.

Sometime though I like pizza so plain that I take off event he cheese....

[emipoemi]

......¡Qué barbaridad!

[LazerRays]

Take off the cheese????????????? How dare thee??!?! It's the best part!

[H L Rose]

pero es mas saludable

[emipoemi]

depende......igual sólo hay carbohidratos....pero con queso, habrá algo de proteínas

[H L Rose]

proteína: una excusa

[Morgan]

No me gusta mucho salsa en mi pizza, solo pan y queso

[H L Rose]

¡Qué! necesitas salsa!
* Mucho
lo siento. Mi corrección no es tan importante.

[H L Rose]

oops! *mucha

[Morgan]

No sé mucho español, soy solo aprendiendo en escuela

[Morgan]

I automatically swear in Japanese sometimes 😂

[Morgan]

Oyasumi mina!

(Goodnight everyone)

[LazerRays]

Goodnight

[emipoemi]

Morgan.....that would be "estoy sólo aprendiendo". Can't use Ser in active situations.

[H L Rose]

buenas noches!

[H L Rose]

To Morgan. I'm still here

[LazerRays]

And why are you all speaking Spanish now ;( I speak French and sign language. Sigh. I'm sad

[H L Rose]

I want to learn sign language! We got three more comments. Teach me some sign language in 3 comments!

[LazerRays]

How? Sign language is visual. For deaf people like I am XD half deaf tbh. I've got a deaf ear and a going deaf ear XD

[H L Rose]

Be creative! You have one comment left! You're deaf? How bad is the other ear?

[LazerRays]

Ah, so my favorite sign is for poetry. Poet if you add identification as person. You basically gesture grabbing something from your heart "emotion" and tossing it the air. It's like taking emotions for all to see. :)
and yeah, in my right ear. Slowly going deaf in the left. Been like that since at least 3. Meh, I don't know any better so idk how bad it is. Haha. I'm used to it, it's just annoying when people come up beside me on my deaf side cuz I can't hear them.

[emipoemi]

I'm deaf too. Both ears. 15/15 hearing, I like to joke. Not enough to necessitate learning sign, but enough to need hearing aids (even though with them on, I still can't hear under the same circumstances as when I don't have them on: when they have their back to me, or when they don't have my full attention.

[Tony]

I enjoyed your iambic meter and your use of onomatopoeia and the metaphorical language throughout the poem.
The repetition of "Face not the dark alone" really enhanced the inspirational quality of the poem and I was impressed by the way you cleverly switched around the wording at the end to make the message even more clear and powerful.
"you shall find no peace of mind
Against the dark alone."
That is just really awesome, I dig it!

[emipoemi]

Thank you so much!! So glad you enjoyed it. Just so you know, there's more where that came from on this page, and in my debut collection which can be purchased via various sites.

[Tony]

Magnifique!

[@_av_poetry]

Beautiful poem. Great message. No flaw to be found really. Good job!

[emipoemi]

Glad to hear it. Thank you.

[Lorry]

Sound advice to anyone and all, to fight against the need to lock yourself away and remain silent of the demons from within.
Be proud anf not ashamed that you shall stand up to it anf not be a silent martyr. Look for mental health community groups that have drop-in days, where you can go and see what they do, without the stress of having to participate. Once you see there are more than you think that have took the first step, you can then move onto your next one. Baby steps still get you there in the end.
To anyone, I would urge you not to suffer in silence.
Kudos on speaking out on such a difficult and lonely subject.