YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

The following is a prose poem that I've been working with on-and-off for the past year. I finally got it to the point that I don't mind letting others see it and I thought you guys would enjoy. If you have any critiques or ideas, please let me know!

On Memories

Gallium masks bob in black water and escape by the grooves of your teeth. Permanent smirks on eroding lips know the tastes of their kiss, and with jejune silence wait as you puzzle over clues as tender as twine.

Awakening

Cold, bones chilled to the marrow, I lay still. How long…I don’t know.

Silence, my ears ache with listening. If only a sound would penetrate this dark place, a sign that I’m not alone. I cannot look left or right. My eyes focus on blackness, eyes that do not blink, eyes that do not close.

Earth, a pungent smell I remember from…when…where…?
Endless darkness, an eternity of nothingness - why am I not afraid?

Affection from another realm.
Empathy intoxicates my imagination, landscape of another's view streams before my eyes.

I look down to see my feet do fit their shoes
time to linger in a differential world where I'm a visitor experiencing the human condition of someone else.