Poetry: ‘Shadow Dance’ (#MHAW2016) by Marv Radio

By Rishma • On Poetry , , , ,

mental-health

As I fill my head with images of why this imper­fec­tion is not perfect,
Nav­ig­at­ing the dark cor­ridors in which the demons lurk,
A light flick­ers in the corner, fling­ing shad­ows in a man­ic dance as they seek to find their dark sanctum,
The light often threatens to go out, but I know that any­thing that can make dark­ness dance must exist etern­ally as a lov­ing part­ner to its opposite,
Remem­ber­ing the shad­ow lurk­ers I see in the corner of my eye are my own spiky edges,
I remind myself that we made peace before we ever saw a conflict,
Pro­ject­ing a false image exhausts all energy reserves,
So I sit here, alone, cold and naked, once again grate­ful for my abil­ity to feel in a world dipped in numbness,
How could I be mad at the obstacles I placed in my own path to help me grow?
I will not dull my senses, or seek a life seen as ordin­ary when I’ve nev­er known normality,
You could call me crazy but you are sub­ject to your own defin­i­tions of sanity,
I seek none, this mad world warms me in a straight jack­et hug,
I thought I was alone, but when we drop our masks and guards I see noth­ing but the same inab­il­ity to fit with­in the con­strains we were prescribed,
One man’s psy­cho is anoth­er man’s shaman,
I will nev­er fit the defin­i­tions of anoth­er man’s limits,
Round peg, square hole, you shout “Weirdo”, when its clear though, we don’t fit a grid or script that’s broke and claims that we’re broke,
The drugs don’t work, they just make it worse,
Insti­tu­tions seek solu­tions remin­is­cent of a hearse,
Light a candle for the lost ones, shine a light for those cast in the dark with no map,
And if you feel the strain reach out, if I can I’ll light­en the bur­den on your back,
In a world this crazy, something’s wrong if you’re sane,
Broken rulers meas­ure false fig­ures, house wins when you play their game,
So I’ll hold a mir­ror to the light that flick­ers, hop­ing we can face the pain.

 

By Marv Radio (@MarvRadio)

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Rishma

Edit­or / PR Con­sult­ant at No Bounds
Rishma Dhali­w­al has extens­ive exper­i­ence study­ing and work­ing in the music and media industry. Hav­ing writ­ten a thes­is on how Hip Hop acts as a social move­ment, she has spent years research­ing and con­nect­ing with artists who use the art form as a tool for bring­ing a voice to the voiceless.

About Rishma

Rishma Dhaliwal has extensive experience studying and working in the music and media industry. Having written a thesis on how Hip Hop acts as a social movement, she has spent years researching and connecting with artists who use the art form as a tool for bringing a voice to the voiceless.