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Paul Butters Oct 2018
Back in my teenage college years
I was told about “Autistic kids”
Who lived in worlds of their own,
Seeing things through weird and wonderful specs
In social isolation,
Frightening in its completeness.

At sixty six I since have learned about many
Of their “traits”:
Their obsessions, inflexible routines and
Panic
At all change.
Their inability to read
Emotions or social cues
Or innuendos
Or irony.

I have worked with those with Aspergers,
Colleagues, friends and clients –
Indeed with people all over
The Autistic Spectrum.

And the main thing I have learned
In all these years
Is that in my own way…
I am one of them.

Paul Butters

© PB 1\10\2018.
There, I'm Out.
HTR Stevens Oct 2018
We who have touched the heights of ecstasy,
See fantasies become reality,
Swimming out to sea as far as we dare,
Have to experience the depths of despair,
Living on the edge of a nightmare,
Not knowing what can be lurking there.

Such is our lot – the souls that climb the heights!
Shall we call it a blessing or a blight?
Living near the edge of insanity…
Joy is heaven – sorrow the bitter sea.
Between ecstasy and agony,
Our dreams become our reality.
Sara Brummer Sep 2018
Sick of too much bright?
Dissolve into the velvet night.
Shake out the dust of stars,
Quench the fire, blow in the wind.
Maintain the subtle balance
That silence will allow.
Reflect attack and reimburse
With kindness.
Don’t fight the fading flesh
Nor quarrel with the unexpected present.
Admire the simple, ignore the shame.
Explore that train of light
And with one single backward glance
Consume all the grief that one life
Can contain.
MAN
Paranoia
and Fear

although,

I am,
just here...

every direction is a miscalculation
every direction is a miscalculation
every direction is a miscalculation


every direction is a miscalculation
every direction is a miscalculation
every direction is a miscalculation


every direction is a miscalculation
every direction is a miscalculation
every direction is a miscalculation
*

I
fall
Anton Stonelake Sep 2018
At the unknown railway station
all that I know,
and all that know of me,
has been left behind.

I am as the wide-eyed boy
at the window of a terrarium,
seeing life from behind panes of glass.

It is an odd,
blissful sensation.

A detachment of life from life situation
leaving me in an instant
inexplicably light.

Yet abruptly I fall solemn,
turning my face into my hands.

For revealed through its temporary absence
is a glimpse the true weight of ’I’.
A poem about a short-lived experience standing outside life looking in
Mitchel Endicott Sep 2018
You don't know me, but we've met.
Acquaintances? Certainly. Friends? You bet.
Soulmates? I'm the closest thing you'll ever get.

I'm sorry this happened. I know it's not fair.
If you're alone and standing, I suggest you grab a chair.

You can't escape me, for better or worse.
I'm here to stay until you find your hearse.
You can't escape the past, you won't escape the future.
You can't get rid of me, I'm your forever suitor.

I'm your inner critic with no constructive feedback.
You're dumb and ugly. See? I play on all your insecurities.
You're stuck with me, try to scream away the memories.
Gnaw, gnash, fight and flail; I'll make you wish there was a hell.

Go ahead, run, it's what you always do.
With a hollow grin and reminiscent smile, I'll be waiting.
That's it, let someone else in, see if they can fix you.
We both know they can't, who are we kidding?

I'm not so bad, am I? Feel that happiness? It's only temporary.
That laughter; clearly obscurity.
It's okay, go to sleep, I'm patient; I'll awake when you do.
Stalking my prey is the technique I contour to.

Those pleasant dreams are nice, aren't they?
They will never come to fruition.
Nothing more than a solipsistic rendition.
The thoughts that others have, you can almost hear them.
When I get finished, you'll have no choice but to fear them.

Running away with no destination in sight.
C'mon, slow down, don't be impolite.
You can run for a while, but I always catch up.
We both know what happens when your mental legs give up.

Shhh... don't be scared. Trust me, I won't leave.
Let me whisper your faults until you break down and grieve.
It's ok, cry, it might provide some relief.
But we both know that relief is always so brief.

You try to suppress me with your drugs and hobbies.
Good luck, I'm real. I'm not the ******* Jabberwocky.

I'll leave you with some words that may provide alleviation.
I'm inside of everyone; just look around and see my manifestation.
Derrick Jones Sep 2018
I am Hansel
eating breadcrumbs I should leave alone
I am Gretel
unaware of the danger in the candy home
I am the witch
inviting danger in with my dinner
I am a human
a fool, an arrogant sinner

Yet I am also Prometheus
Stealing knowledge from the realm of the divine
Sharing it with every person I can find
Exploring farther into the human mind
Than ever before in the history of humankind
For more poetry and essays, follow my blog on Medium at https://medium.com/words-ideas-thoughts
Thanks for reading!
Jack Torrance Sep 2018
Where the **** are we going?
Take off the blindfold so that I can see,
ya I know that you said that already,
but we got places to be.

Finally, Jesus now tell me,
what the **** are we doing out here?
And why the hell are you smiling?
The ******* mean that should be clear?

Oh I see, another scare tactic,
let me guess you’re taking control?
You know that this never works,
wait, why the **** did you dig a hole?

What do you mean you’re scared of me?
I’ve always just been here to help.
Oh here we go again about therapy.
******* mean it’s about mental health?

I’m only what you made me, but I like it here,
so I think that I’ll ******* stay.
We both know you don’t have what it takes,
so put the gun down and just walk away.

You keep acting like you don’t know me,
like I’m just a part of the id.
That’s laughable, Brad, you’re an idiot,
I’ve known you since you were a kid.

You act like the drinking was my fault,
but who the **** pulled you out of the gloom?
And what about all those nights you cried,
after grandma died, all alone in your room?

Look, just put the gun down,
and let’s go have a drink.
Nah, you’ll never be done,
thats just what you think.

Fine, go ahead, pull the trigger,
you know I’ll be back in a week.
Bury your issues like always,
but you better bary me ******* deep.

Getting rid of me will solve nothing,
I’ll be with you until you die,
so no goodbyes, I’ll see you later,
but go ahead, give it a try.

*boom
Derrick Jones Aug 2018
A face is like a mask
covering the soul
either trying to mirror the inside
or keep the truth hidden

We may never know what is underneath
But we can try to imagine
and in that act
we better ourselves
For more poetry and essays, follow my blog on Medium at https://medium.com/words-ideas-thoughts
Thanks for reading!
Derrick Jones Aug 2018
Part 1: Birth

There is only flow when I go to the unknown
I roam an abandoned home
It looks like ancient Rome, frescoes and domes
I call out, the echoes tell me I’m alone
No phone service, I am nervous
I wander through these haunted halls
The size of a million shopping malls
I begin to feel so small
A sudden flash and I am dashed to the realm of vision
A photon’s silent fission causes a collision in my eyes
Chemicals climb my nerves like vines
They activate my brain
I gain the gift of sight
I can finally see the light
Technicolor sprites ignite from the night
They surround me and confound me
Dizzy with the brightness
My body dissolves to lightness
I am one with a firework show
I am an ember, drifting to and fro
I am the spark, the flame, the afterglow

Part 2: Escape

This house that was haunting me
Is less daunting in reality
To my surprise, I realize my eyes describe a scene I can’t contextualize
I’ve lost my corporeal form
I’m tossed but never torn
I am the fabric of the universe
I fold, tesselate, invert
There is no ground, no up or down
As I fill this infinite space
My mind is racing
My self erasing
I am carved into a simple tracing
I am a thought confined inside a casing
Cut down to size I rise to the surface
Shot into the sky, I gain a purpose
I stream toward an enormity  
I reach escape velocity
I smash into reality

Part 3: Dissemination

I am a thought that was caught
Shot into the moment
Because I am where the mind went
Sent into the present
A representation of an inner mentation
A random rumination
A rogue communication
An intuition loaded like ammunition
Fired from a rifle
Too late to stifle
I ram through the fog of resistance
I slam into existence
It’s survival of the fittest
If I fail to catch attention
I will fall out of this dimension
I am rescued by a mention!
My salvation is conversation
I am converted into sound
I reverberate through air and ground
My vibrations travel through eustachian tubes and neural grooves
I move the chemicals in your head
Make you think of me instead
Now I am yours to spread
Exhaled like vapor
Written on paper
Cell phones are my savior
With digital capabilities
I avoid temporal instabilities
Evade deletion by replication
Copy and pasted
Then excreted
I’ve been tweeted!
I spread through the interwebs
Integrate into inner webs
And now I am a part of you
Weaved into the heart of you
There’s no reprieve, no undo
I will influence the future
A humble contributor
Whether I bring shame or glory
I am a part of this story
For more poetry and essays, follow my blog on Medium at https://medium.com/words-ideas-thoughts
Thanks for reading!
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