It was All a Masquerade.

It Was All A Masquerade.

__________________

I'm Lost in
this Fog
(so Empty)
yearning to
be Filled..

while
reminiscing
about The
Enemy
(in Myself)
that I once
Killed.

It Lives again,..
The I...
(My Shadow
Companion.)
feasting on
Childish
Fears kept
buried inside.

(confusing
roles between
Hero and
Champion.)

_______

And just what
if this is a
Dream
My Dear?
Would that
really be
so Bad?

Is it Wrong
for Me to
Stay Here?

Recalling
Fonder Feelings
I Once Had!

________

It Haunts Again,
(The Ghost of Me.)
A Cruel Imaginary
Friend who cannot
discern illusions
from Reality..

Walking the Halls
of My Shattered
Head..
and so what if
it is DEAD?!

(at least with
You My Shadow
is Smiling.)

___________

The Fog
seems worse
on Pretty
Days..

(like Sunshine
laced with
Razor blades.)

Good Memories
cut the Deepest
you know!

Like Hope
Blinded
by The Fact.

(That it
was all A
Masquerade.)

j.stephen.h.

such madness never fades.

Such Madness Never fades.
________________

There is a
Madness
in the Stars
my Dreams
have made...

so intense it
will not fade..
which seems
deeper now
than any Sea.

(a madness
all encompassing.)

A Madness
others write
about with Irony.

(unaware of
it's reality.)
_______

This Madness
lives in every
Heart...

it is seen
by day,
and in
The Dark...

Residing
thus in
every stare...

As The Author
of our Mortal
Nightmares.

(The Reason
we are Scared.)
_______

I have seen
this Madness
prosper..

with nothing
more or less
to offer...

than a Diagnosis
of Mans' Disease.

(which at core
reveals the Truth
that we are animals
ruled by instinct.)
_________

There is Madness
in this Living Play..

I feel it growing
by The day..

and at night in
dreams I Know
it still.

(for such Madness
never fades.)

j.stephen.h.

When Only a Mask remains.

When Only Another Mask remains.
_______________

What else
but Darkness
can Exist,
when Two
Shadows
attempt to
Occupy the
same Space?,..
and there is
only an infinite
series of Masks
behind ones
Smiling Face?
________

Constantly
I pursue
External Light,
trying to
pierce the
Veil of Night...
that Ever- Living
Grave within
Me!...
The Heartsick
Fiend..
Or Mortal
enemy!
(which killed
My Inner
Child's Delight.)
_________

These Feeling Words..
they are The
Songs of Verse
that I capitalize
upon to conceal
my Inner Absence..
while nothing
pleases, or
HURTS!
(and I remain an
Empty Shell Of
Madness.)
_________

Why plan for
a Tomorrow
that you Hope
will never come?..

Or feign a State
of Sorrow when
your tears are
shed and Done?
_______

And why try
to see beyond
the mask,
when only another
mask remains?
___________

Only Darkness
can exist in this
Place..
(A World of Shadows
occupying the
same Damned Space.)

J.Stephen.H.

The Grave of Youth

The Grave of Youth.
_______________

By Silent Hills
waits The Grave
of Youth; where
first is buried ones
Inner Child.
(replacing fantasy
with truth.)

T'was once a
Pretty, Daylit
Scene, which
seemed to Promise:
Life shall Cope;
but soon became
this Midnight Scene!
(with puppets
hanging from A
Noose called: Hope.)

Burn Lost Visions
from my Mind,
for it's often better
to pretend, that
we are the inheritors
of an Innocence which
never Ends!
___

By Lonely Hills
waits the Grave of
Youth..where one
first buries their inner
child.

(a fantasy killed
always by Truth.)

j.stephen.h. 2001

A Man of The Ages.

 A Man of the Ages.
_______________

Before His Time,
Above His Time,
or beneath his Time?

Who was He
The Moment
you began To
Question?

Did he shake
his head at the
sky?

Or point
Obscurely
in A False
Direction?
_______

A Mans Man,
Ladies Man,
Or Simple Man?

What Cliche
Defines the Man
Before, Above,
or Beneath His
Time?

The Man
who Stands
for Everything,
while Falling for
Nothing;


and feels
at Home in
the Most
Unseasonable
of Climes!

____________

Where were you
Before you began
To Question?

Before, Above,
or Beneath your
Time?

Do you seek
within yourself
Direction?

Or shake your
head in sad
confusion?

(shouting at
An Empty Sky.)

j.s.h.

When Love Becomes a Soliloquy

When Love Becomes A Soliloquy.
_____________

When Love
becomes a
Soliloquy,
or attempt to
fill some restless
void.

I will imagine
you by me
listening.

(filtering through
the cold white noise.)
___

Loving is easy when
each moment feels
like Spring;

but can you tolerate
the darkness, during
nights of Suffering?
_________

And when Death looks
upon our aging
countenance;

and chooses one
of us to take,
will you smile
fondly in remembrance?

(or lament the times
I caused you Heartbreak.)
____________

If My Love
Became A
Soliloquy,
or Tragedy
I sought
to Disown.

I would still
imagine you
by me listening!

Though I stood
mumbling and
alone.

(battling heartless
noise.)

j.s.h.