A poem about anxiety, depression and hope

         Darkness and Shadow.

Through darkness and shadow we make our way

Through life’s epic journey by night and by day

With a flickering candle to guide and to show us the way

Night gathers around us and turns away from the day

But as darkness encroaches like a shroud on the dead

Our fears grow stronger and fill us with dread

Anxiety like a demon gnaws at the soul

Our thoughts turn darker,as black as coal

In the dark of the night  the cold fingers of fear

Suffocate our dreams, changing hope to despair

Strangling our dreams in an icy grip

But from the chalice of courage we take a deep sip

And drive away the ghosts that we most fear

We banish and exile the dark demons of despair

The Ego plays it’s tricks like a jester at play

But a glimmer of light and night turns to day

And we cling to that candle, that flicker of light

To show us the path we thought lost in the night

And slowly but surely our feet find the ground

Encouraging and promising a solution will be found

Darkness and light a two sided coin

Our hopes and our joys together we join

The passing of time,the spring and the fall

The winter and summer, the balance of it all

The ebb and the flow, the tide always turns

And every glorious dawn our fire within burns

A fresh start, our slate is wiped clean

From darkness to light, every shade in between

For that is life, a journey of wonder to explore

And experience and learn and live and adore

The jester still juggles the good and the bad

But we decide our journey, the joyful or the sad.

c Denis Murphy 08 Sep 2015.