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    Mikiesboy
  • Mikiesboy
  • Author
  • 10/10/2024
  • 387 Words
  • 502 Views
  • 26 Comments
Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

The Black Dog Blues - 1. Chapter 1

Here are two poems about depression aka the black dog.

In The Depths

In the quiet hours once the sun retreats,
Silence is heavy beneath the air,
A shadow stirring within the heart, entreats
The mind to bend under weight and wear.

Oh, solemn guest, you enter unannounced,
Unbidden, yet settling, cold and deep,
Your spoken words are truths renounced
Drawing forth a bitter, dreamless sleep.

You steal the colours from the morning sky,
Laughter turns to echoes, faint and lost.
Each second of joy flickers and must die,
Gone before we know the total cost.

Quietly you claim the brightest souls,
Your voice a whisper only one can hear.
You speak of nothingness, of empty goals,
Stealing all the good, leaving only fear.

Yet in endless darkness, somewhere soft and low,
A fragile spark resists your endless night.
It trembles, weak, but dares to fiercely glow,
— a sliver of the soul’s hopeful light.

You wait in shadows, and your grip is tight,
Yet the human heart dreams of warmth, of flight.

 

 

The Black Dog Blues

The black dog lingers at my door,
A shadow I can't outrun,
Paws soft upon the wooden floor,
It finds me, even in the sun.

Its eyes are pools of molten jet,
Dark mirrors of my soul,
It weaves its way through every thought,
And claims a piece – a toll.

It’ll never be forever.
The black dog never stays away,
It lurks in corners, out of sight,
Until it claims its prey.

It lays in wait for me at night,
And my heart pounds within my chest,
Its forbidding presence feeds my fears,
And steals all hope of rest.

I try to breathe and break the chains
But still, it claws my mind,
The black dog has no boundaries,
It's always close behind.

It’ll never be forever,
The black dog never stays away,
It lurks in corners, out of sight,
Until it claims its prey.

Yet, some days it grows tired,
Lays down, and lets me breathe,
During those fleeting moments,
I get then, some reprieve.

So, I walk with the beast beside me,
A silent, shadowed friend,
The black dog never truly leaves,
And I know it’ll never end

And I know it's not forever,
The black dog never stays away,
It lurks in corners, out of sight,
Until it claims its prey.

 

***

Thanks to @Valkyrie for proofing this for me.
To those of you who know the black dog well, I hope you can see it as part of you rather than the enemy.
Thank you for reading.
Copyright © 2024 Mikiesboy; All Rights Reserved.
  • Love 15
  • Sad 8
Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

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Chapter Comments



  • Popular Comment
Mikiesboy
  • Popular Comment
1 hour ago, chris191070 said:

Two beautiful poems, that are full of hope and wisdom.

It can be hard to help someone you love with the black dog, but I know full well that after all these years my Hubby has found peace,  solace and learnt to accept the good and the bad of the black dog.

Thanks for sharing x

Thanks, chris. i'm glad to know your husband has found some peace. It's hard and harder sometimes on those closest to you. xo

  • Love 7
Alexmugs

I love the hopefulness of the first poem. It's stunningly beautiful. 

Depression is a journey that so many people take. It's different for every single one. 

That you chose to personify yours as a constant black dog companion is such an excellent interpretation. 

A dog can be a loyal companion or a ferocious enemy. Only it's true master can wield control, yet that control can often be tenuous. 

I hope your dog is friendly more often than not. 

Thanks for sharing. 

  • Love 5
Mikiesboy
22 hours ago, Alexmugs said:

I love the hopefulness of the first poem. It's stunningly beautiful. 

Depression is a journey that so many people take. It's different for every single one. 

That you chose to personify yours as a constant black dog companion is such an excellent interpretation. 

A dog can be a loyal companion or a ferocious enemy. Only it's true master can wield control, yet that control can often be tenuous. 

I hope your dog is friendly more often than not. 

Thanks for sharing. 

Black dog has been a term for depression for a long time, but it's a good one. As you say, dogs can be good and gentle companions or the opposite.  It's been easier to deal with depression by accepting it rather than fighting it, so I think of it as a companion of sorts.

Thank you for reading and for taking the time to share your thoughts.

  • Love 2
Mikiesboy
22 hours ago, drsawzall said:

Thank you for sharing this with us, it is appreciated. Your descriptions were on point and illuminating. I first heard of the term 'Black Dog' in reading a biography of Winston Churchill. I find a better understanding of depression from reading your poems, for that...thank you!

Thank you for your kind words. I appreciate them and I'm glad to know these poems help with understanding this long-term disability.  :)

 

  • Love 3
Mikiesboy
10 hours ago, CassieQ said:

I wish I knew more about poetry, so I could find better words.  But this was absolutely beautiful and poignant.  

Several people have said this to me over the years. I'll tell you what I told them: Do you need to paint to understand a painting? I need to understand the technical points of poetry; as a reader, you simply need to read.

TS Eliot said, "Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood."  I often read poems that make me feel before I consciously understand them. It's an interesting form of writing.

Thanks for reading them and sharing your thoughts.

  • Love 2
t.n.

t.n. 174

Posted (edited)

"Your voice a whisper only one can hear."

I love this verse... I have struggled with depression in the past and for about 5 years the black dog was all over me, eating me out. I was drowning, struggling to keep my head above the water to be able to breathe and thankfully I somehow managed to do so but it was beyond exhausting. I was lucky to have my friends and family around me and I could feel their love amd support however it felt that I was inside a glass cage shouting for help and they were all right outside but could not hear my pleas. 

I am in a much better place for a while now, and I dare say happy, but the black dog catches up with me at times and I have felt its breath right behind me... thankfully I have managed to stay ahead, always searching for new things to do for me whenever I feel its presence close.

Thank you, @Mikiesboy for sharing these two poems, they both spoke to my heart! And I wish you bright days, filled with love for yourself because you are worth it; and then maybe the leash will be so long and far away that you forget it's there for a very long time. 

Edited by t.n.
  • Love 2
Mikiesboy
2 hours ago, t.n. said:

"Your voice a whisper only one can hear."

I love this verse... I have struggled with depression in the past and for about 5 years the black dog was all over me, eating me out. I was drowning, struggling to keep my head above the water to be able to breathe and thankfully I somehow managed to do so but it was beyond exhausting. I was lucky to have my friends and family around me and I could feel their love amd support however it felt that I was inside a glass cage shouting for help and they were all right outside but could not hear my pleas. 

I am in a much better place for a while now, and I dare say happy, but the black dog catches up with me at times and I have felt its breath right behind me... thankfully I have managed to stay ahead, always searching for new things to do for me whenever I feel its presence close.

Thank you, @Mikiesboy for sharing these two poems, they both spoke to my heart! And I wish you bright days, filled with love for yourself because you are worth it; and then maybe the leash will be so long and far away that you forget it's there for a very long time. 

Thank you, t.n.  Depression is so very far beyond being sad it's hard to explain to people. Those near us try to help and understand, but you're just miles away. It's so hard to deal with.

I'm glad to know you're in a better place. It's good because then we know what we can feel, even if the dog catches up. Knowledge is power, and knowing that we've been in the light helps us return there sooner.

Thank you for reading and choosing to comment on these two poems; I greatly appreciate it.

  • Love 2
Mikiesboy
14 hours ago, Wayne Gray said:

Thanks for sharing these, tim.

I liked the first one, but the second ... the second one I love. It sent chills chasing over my skin. The repeating "chorus" ties it together in a unique way. 

Additionally, comparing depression to a too-faithful hound is brilliant.

Thanks again. I'm glad you get some respite here and there from the dog. 💚

Thanks, Wayne. I appreciate you reading them.  The hound thing is not my brilliance ... it's an old metaphor for depression.  It's an interesting way to think of it, however.

  • Love 2
Headstall

These touched a for-now-deadened nerve for me, but you're right, the black dog, even in slumber, keeps one eye opened, ready to pounce on its favored rabbit. I think we all have our tricks to stave off depression, but no matter our success, we understand it's only a matter of time before we hear those footfalls again. Thanks for sharing these potent poems, tim. Cheers. 

  • Love 2
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