The Quarry of the Mind – A Vision of Hell?

Into the glaring sun I stare As on a rock I sit; The quarry wall is high and black – And looms above the pit. I kick the stones; above I see A wall so glow’ring and dim; Above the cliff, so dazzling a light, The pit below so grim. My life in turmoil, my mind so manic - Is this the pit for me? In tears, and blood upon my hands, Is this a life decree? I gaze - a world so dark and bleak - Oh Lord is this to be? This pit - Why me? Why here? I scream - From this, can I be free? Down the black and shaly slag, Down and down I tumble; On my knees I slip and scramble On and on I stumble. Falling through an endless void - Down and down I fall My head is spinning I cannot see – Into hell I sprawl. What has life now left for me? As in the filth I wallow; I toss and turn and seek His face, Don’t desert me now! A blinding flash, no more I see - The oppressive dark is riven; Cutting through my brain so sharply, A piercing dart is driven. A sudden warmth upon my face Upon a bank I lie; Through the haze, across the vale – The distant Wolds I spy. Swallows dive and swoop above From Hades’ darts I’m free I close my eyes and thank my God So joyful and blest I be…. ********* But what has life really left for me? This poem was written with some homeless friends in mind and their accounts of bipolar and other issues that they have had to face in their lives. One of whom lives in an insubstantial tent on wasteland near our local town and who has many problems to contend with - problems of mind, spirit and life's inequalities and injustices.....