The Black Dog Blues - 1. Chapter 1

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.

***