The Guest

An uninvited guest came barging in without warning

He knew no decency nor any sense of timing

He demanded room in the sanctity of my routine

I fought to get rid of him; this time, I didn’t win

Together we shared meals

But he took my appetite away

He was slowly killing me

Every minute of everyday

He bombed fortresses that took years and years to build

He scraped off scars, even those I thought were healed

He bled me and exhausted all life from my soul

He did this to me ‘til I was but a black hole

And when I had nothing left to give away

I found strength in the strangest almost impossible way:

I picked up a pen and began to draw

Without inhibitions, my art appeared so raw

I let my hand move and create in its own pace

Used up all ink, filled every blank space

The uninvited guest remained and challenged every move

I resisted no longer; I had nothing to prove

I swam along the current of his demand

Let him control every stroke of my hand

I created using whatever I could find

Ink, paint, whatever, he did not really mind

He revealed my hidden springs that never ran dry

Water within my soul, or at times, rain from the sky

I explored and painted deserts of my desires

Tamed my emotional dragons that spat out fires

I made truce with my mental enemies that took over my mind

I ran along with them ‘til they were all left behind

I drew and painted all these things until one day

The uninvited guest had already gone away

He left without warning just like the way he arrived

When he barged into my life..I didn’t think I’d survive

-Roxanne Dable