Walking Out One Morning Poem by Gary Witt

Walking Out One Morning

Rating: 5.0


Throughout the night, I’ve felt a growing dread;
A dark sensation in my neck and back
That seizes reason, breaks my harrowed soul.
It is a voice from deep within myself,
Not mine, but one that tells me it is mine.

I have absorbed its stinging, hurtful lies,
And taken them to heart as I would truth.
And I have wondered where to go, and how
To draw my strength from suffering that roils
Around a brooding mind, now petrified.

I cannot stem this swelling tide of pain,
So I must walk from knowing and from doubt.
Now let thy servant please depart in peace.
Now may I leave this wincing part behind—
Give up this fear that I have memorized.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Martha Wells-Smith 12 November 2009

Gary, this was worth the wait. I've been checking for you on and off, wondering when your next poem would surface. Because I work in mental health, it has a resounding ring to it. So many suffer from inner turmoil, from the voices that punish and judge, fillling the mind and heart with doubt and condemnation. You address it with a powerful honesty, even a wistfulness that speaks to me. I continue to read other works, and wonder when I'll submit my own. But when I do, I'll be writing to you requesting an honest opinion from a poet I very much admire.

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Sue Ann Simar 07 November 2009

I like the last line and the implication that fear is learned and then not forgotten. . I found the weakest line to be line eight, ending with the indefinite 'all this.' It could be argued that the line above, ending with Truth is just as undefined. . Personally, I wouldn't use 'thy, ' but it does suit the style for this poem, which I found to be ambitious and a worthwhile read.

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