Melancholy and Joy
I.Melancholy and joy, like oil and water,
do not combine (like water in a bath
of acid). The twain never do
meet in a single psyche,
a single soul,
a single
mind,
II.
or in a single life like mine. And often
in between are vast tracts of gray,
of feeling from day to day
so numbed from my
daily sacrifice of
seeing my
life
III.
slip away from me like water out of
my hands, like life-giving blood
leaving my capillaries
and veins in sickle cell
disarray even
on Sabbath
days.
IV.
Melancholy and joy, this competing twin
(of heaven and hell), have no
purgatory for me: I either
ascend into bliss; or
I descend into
a burning
ashtray.
Poetry by Ngoc Nguyen
Read 326 times
Written on 2021-07-13 at 14:28
Tags Bipolar Mania Melancholy
Save as a bookmark (requires login) Write a comment (requires login) Send as email (requires login) Print text
