Battle Scarred Comments Very Welcome

[Pendragon]

Battle Scarred

Pausing to think—
(I have been here before, right?)
Sights and sounds overpowering,
Attack the five outer gates—
Sight, Hearing, Smell, Taste, Touch—
So I begin to envision what isn’t there;
To hear soft voices whispering blasphemy;
I gag on the taste of something very like blood;
The scent of death and decay fouls the air;
My skin twists in every direction from thorns I cannot see.
As I reel from emotional onslaught;
I will not accept nor give quarter,
But I must strategically withdraw
Behind the inner five gates.
Imagination, Conscience, Reason, Affection, Memory—
But this demonic force that breaks in,
Causes imagination to wander strange pathways;
Plays chess with my conscience and checks every move;
Backs reason to the wall as they joust with pointed words;
Trains affection in worldly wise ways it was not meant to know;
And causes my closest friend, memory, to become an illusionist.
Then he turns his cold eyes on the one thing he shall never possess:
For you see, behind five outer gates, and five within,
There stands a tower with no apparent door.
Within resides my soul…
The Dark Lord may do as he may with this flesh,
But my tower bears the mark and glyphs of The One
He dares not to anger—
He shall never have my soul…

Dale Harris
© 8/12/07

[Poppy]

So since God resides within the tower, Hell can't..thereby Hell is the asbsence of God. Just my most humble opinion.

[Pendragon]

So since God resides within the tower, Hell can't..thereby Hell is the asbsence of God. Just my most humble opinion.I didn't say that. I said in my tower, God dwells. For each person only one occupant can occupy the tower. The poem is based on John Bunyan's book The Holy War.

I am kind of this way. I respect all people. For some, the tower would be empty, for they do not believe they have a soul, nor in God or the Devil. Others may have different attackers, or the tower represents Enlightenment, a Reincarnation, or something of that nature. The point is the tower is safety even if everything else is breached. Apply the poem in any way you chose, that is the meaning.

Pen

[CdnReader]

I really like this, Pen..... Great images, and lots to think about. But in this section....



Imagination, Conscious, Reason, Affection, Memory—
But this demonic force that breaks in,
Causes imagination to wander strange pathways;
Plays chess with my conscious and checks every move;


....I think perhaps you mean either "consciousness" or "conscience"??? I'm not sure which, but "conscious" is an adjective and therefore not correct here. Otherwise....

WONDERFUL!!! :D

[Poppy]

I just don't think I would want to be in the tower without God. I know I would not want to be there by myself.

[Pendragon]

I really like this, Pen..... Great images, and lots to think about. But in this section....



....I think perhaps you mean either "consciousness" or "conscience"??? I'm not sure which, but "conscious" is an adjective and therefore not correct here. Otherwise....

WONDERFUL!!! :DThank you! Spell check is useless if you correctly spell, but use the wrong word! :blush: :blush: :blush:

[Pendragon]

I just don't think I would want to be in the tower without God. I know I would not want to be there by myself.Not alone, Luv, my soul is in there with God. And my soul is all that will live on. The rest of this will pass, return ashes to ashes, dust to dust; the breath of life back to God who gave it. But this isn't the Religious Forum and I don't want this poem taken there. There are enough arguments there as it is.

Pen

[Poppy]

Well, I certainly enjoyed it.