Washed Away My Sanity

I love writing while I am at open mics. It started out of necessity, showing up with nothing to read and feeling the need to actively participate. I would scrawl out words speedily and then share them, raw and unedited with the group. This one is a gem I wrote while I was at Black Eyed Press'  Grassroots open mic for the first time. This is an edited version of the poem, but when I first shared it, if was rough as hell.

Washed Away My Sanity

I am blinded by my own reflection,


But I need to crawl outside the husk of my body

To find peace in the shadow of a willow tree.

I will let the leaves weep for me.



I need to abandon my layers

To be all ether and semi-conscious wanderings.

I will walk up a pathway and stumble down a waterfall,

Wet with possibilties.

I will splash against the barriers built around me.



I will chink away at each brick,

Lick the salt from my lips.

This rain has drained away any sentience,

Washed away my sanity and all humanity

Sees only surface existence.



We artists strive for some other plane,

Unsure if what we seek will destroy our souls,

Radiate the core of our consciousness.



A heartbeat groove moves me to consume

More than bare sustenance to survive,

A glut of button mushrooms to swallow.

I shorten the space between us with scissors.