“Demons & Angels”

“Demons & Angels”

They are there

Waiting

Accidental moments of people and silence

As I push through the day to day

From one purposeful task to the next

I forget the demons

The shadows and ghosts that haunt me

Momentary amnesia has never been so enjoyed

I gratefully accomplish the things I hate

I hungrily seek out the next busy portion of time

Wanting it to carry me to some sort of peace and forgetfulness

But when the demons arise

I shudder and retreat into a world of loneliness

And just when I feel I can take no more

The angels take flight

Ready to save me from my own self torture

They come in small ways to rescue and soothe my wounds

A text

A message

A call

Even a small unexpected knock on my door

All of it

Is welcome relief

It is those very angels who give me the strength to push back

To push on

To put the demons beyond the reach of my wandering mind

Robert Lloyd

14 April 2016

Rabbit

Rabbit

I am driven

Absorbing everything around me

Busying myself with stuff I used to ignore

Trying to be too involved to breathe

It’s me running faster than my own thoughts

My future ghosts are chasing me

Like hungry howls in pursuit

Waiting for me falter

But I press on determined

If I could just ignore the footsteps behind me

At least for just few moments more

Then it will all go away

I could burst out of the crowded forest that is my tortured heart

And be bathed in the sunlight of blank canvass

I escape reality by not acknowledging it

The pain of the bite at my heels is too much to endure

I am the rabbit running

Unwilling to succumb to the snarling wolves in my head

The ones I created

Robert Lloyd

Set Adrift

"Set Adrift"

The wind was peppered with a gulls cry

As her hair bounced loosely

Upon her shoulders

She stood alone

Challenging the world

Dressed for the occasion

Her thoughts were swallowed by loneliness

Who will catch me if jump?

She whispered with a sad smile

Her tears fell into the void

Tracing a well traveled path upon her cheeks

Her panicked heart beat began to slow

Calm replaced ache

It was an epiphany

When the wind faltered and stopped

Only silence remained

Robert Lloyd

Thief

"Thief"

My breath

My will

My everything

You stole this from me

All of it

The past is gone

I can’t imagine a world without you

To escape is to sleep

And still you steal my dreams

Robbing me of loneliness

Each morning you take the worst of me

Replacing it with hope

And I enjoy being your victim

Robert Lloyd