Between Heaven and Hell

[Pendragon]

Between Heaven and Hell

Just struggling on through the endless void,
Dodging shards of conflicting advice—
Each day gets harder to drown out the sound
Of Starry-eyed Messiahs promising change—
As I dance the taunt tightrope between Heaven and Hell…

I seem to be working without a net,
No way to cushion the inevitable falls—
Deceit and Misconception somehow obscure my cries,
People think that there is always a choice—
Dancing the taunt tightrope between Heaven and Hell…

The darkness shadows the Truth and the Hope,
The vapors of confusion are on a permanent rise…
Lost in a moment, the past never forgotten,
No matter how hard I may try—
Out on this taunt tightrope between Heaven and Hell…

The flames call and beckon, the glory seems unsure,
Trapped between evil and good—
The world itself is an impassive machine,
Manufacturing reality that often is contradictory —
Out on this taunt tightrope between Heaven and Hell…

Tiptoeing through smoke of burned-out dreams,
Wondering always if I’ll crash and burn—
Days unnumbered and experiences untold.
I‘ve become confused about what’s good and what’s bad—
Dancing the taunt tightrope between Heaven and Hell…

I seem to be a loser no matter which way I lean—
There are burdens that would drag me down—
In the pandemonium of voices can I hear a still, small voice,
In the nonstop prattle does reason peer through the clouds—
Trying to balance on this taunt tightrope between Heaven and Hell…

Maybe the Blind Lady holds Justice for someone like me,
I fear perceptions will somehow tip those scales—
If there were no hope in the blackness of The Shadow of Death,
I would probably just step off of the cable —
This so slender tightrope between heaven and hell…

God— how I hate this taunt tightrope between Heaven and Hell…

Pendragon
© Saturday, September 26, 2009

[dibyendra]

Pen, this one is quite descriptive and emotional! The repeated line 'As I dance...' added extra verve in your poem and I liked that imagery a lot!

Just struggling on through the endless void,
Dodging shards of conflicting advice—
Each day gets harder to drown out the sound
Of Starry-eyed Messiahs promising change—
As I dance the taunt tightrope between Heaven and Hell…

Tiptoeing through smoke of burned-out dreams,
Wondering always if I’ll crash and burn—

I seem to be a loser no matter which way I lean—
There are burdens that would drag me down—
In the pandemonium of voices can I heard a still, small voice,
In the nonstop prattle does reason peer through the clouds—
Trying to balance on this taunt tightrope between Heaven and Hell…

Just my opinion, I think your poem looks fine without the repetition of above stanza.

[~Sophia~]

Nice one Pendragon! I think you have captured the way a lot of people are struggling in this constantly recovering economy! (BTW, I think there is a typo in the 7th stanza ...."in the pandemonium of voices can I heard a still, small voice")

[Pendragon]

Just my opinion, I think your poem looks fine without the repetition of above stanza.

Quite right. I was moving that stanza around and forgot to delete the one I didn't want...

[Pendragon]

Nice one Pendragon! I think you have captured the way a lot of people are struggling in this constantly recovering economy! (BTW, I think there is a typo in the 7th stanza ...."in the pandemonium of voices can I heard a still, small voice")

I thought I had fixed that. Oops!

[formality hater]

Loved it!

[dara.cv]

bravo, I like the tightrope analogy, a dangerous and risky display of balance.

Interestingly, walking a tightrope is purposeless, other than for entertainment of its spectators, and their goading cheers. For me this was a subliminal hatred of the mass social vs individual conflict of religion/spirituality. Foreboding doom or subliminal ecstasy, a punishment or reward only received after death, regardless of how well you walk the rope- you're going to die either way.

I like how you interject reality as a passive machine- having no requests or demands, nor preferences or distastes, it just continues on neither loving or loathing. Thus "Manufacturing reality that often is contradictory —"
just as the concept of heaven and hell.

this is a really thoughtful piece of work. very deep n profound