A Snow-Globe Mind (Meditation vs. Reality)

A SNOW-GLOBE MIND

God, grant me a snow-globe mind
where visions swirl in sensuous patterns
lovely and peaceful
Only to settle and wait to be stirred again
at a time of my own choosing

Better than this incessant strobe light
An intermittent blinking neon sign
Shining through my eyelids, shaking awake my mind
It has me on my knees
begging for a blackout
if only to cease the pulsating distraction
of a senseless, endless, unrelenting
throb of thoughts

© 2010 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil

The Grey: On Depression

THE GREY

The Grey appears in a corner of the ceiling
No prayer, no plea can stop it
seeping slowly into view

The Grey
slipping down the walls
slithering across the rug and
slowly onto the sofa where I
sit paralyzed
Can’t leave the house
Can’t leave the couch

Now The Grey engulfs me
a nothingness
that is everything
Seeping inside
penetrating me roughly
like a bad lover

No drug can treat
Nor force defeat
this cement wall
this tightly grouted guest

Tomorrow or so
The Grey will snake away
And colors gradually
gratefully reappear

But for now, I sigh
slide on my shades
Open the door and force my way
into the day
Still grey
(c) 2010 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil