Halls of the head (This is my Labyrinth)

This is an unfinished poem. Let me know what you think?


Move slow
Through these shadows-
Drag your fingers along the walls,
Feel the ripple
Of stone breathing:
Shudder
Sigh
And whisper
Through the cracks
With cobwebs for breath,
Soft and warm and grey,
Brushing your cheek as you pass the chinks
In the mortar where,
Like runes eroded over time,
All the names you have been named
Are fading to decay;
Leave a finger-trail in the dust
Marking your passage as
You slowly walk away.

Edge around
Ever on around
Quiet, slowly, around the corner;
It is best not to disturb
The sleeping gargoyles in the foyer-
They’d eat you alive
Or leave you alive
And their eyes hold such truths as
To make each progressive choice
Safer, yet,
Far worse than the former-
Best not to have to take your pick,
But instead let sleeping beasts lie
Eyes closed in solitude,
Dark heartbeats echoing your own:
Tock and tic
And tock and tic and
Hold your breath!-
Don’t gasp
Don’t wake them up, sojourner!

That’s right-
Slink low breath held eyes fixed on the spark
Of eyes fixed below slitted lids,
Watching as you glide the dark-
Tip toe, tock tic,
Slip away while they’re feeling generous;
You didn’t really think that they were
Lost in dreams, now, did you?
Oh.
You did.

Haven’t you figured this by now?
No one who walks the halls of the head
Is ever alone-
They walk between the waking breath
And the keening call of wind-played bone.

Steel yourself.
This won’t be easy-
No one ever said it would be easy, child.
Don’t shiver so when the wind howls low;
As long as you don’t dance along,
It will only be another song
In the night-
And after all, you’ve heard enough of those
To fill your inner sight with souls
Twisted and bright and
More beautiful than any sky
At dawn’s first shaking, thin, tormented light.
No,
This is not another nightmare
You will wake from
Shaken and relieved at the sight
Of daybreak windows glowing bright;
You cannot wake from
No sleep, and
This is more than just a dream-
This is your mind.

And didn’t you know?
No one who walks the halls of the head
Ever really walks alone.

So open your eyes
Wide
See the things you couldn’t see
Or wouldn’t see
And mark well your way-
What was the story?
What was his name?-
He kept his hand to the Labyrinth wall, knowing
As long as he touched the stone,
He’d be sure to find the heart of the place;
You’d do best to follow suit
And throw your stubborn pride away
(It will only crumble in the face
Of what you will find in the space
Where your smallest thought
In darkness plays.)

So go on,
Sojourner,
And walk away.
And when the wind shifts the dust away
Don’t be surprised to see
That this place is really everything
You are-
Your twisted fantasies
Lay unashamed with your tamer dreams,
And in the mix you will discover
Each has overridden the other
And what is left is the perfect lover
To command and acquiesce
To your darkest needs,
Softest requests,
And when you try to turn away
You know
You’ll never
Turn away
Now.

Do you see now?

Those who walk the halls of the head
Never walk alone, my friend.