Visions from Within the Mist :: Hampton :: Original Poetry

Visions from Within the Mist

Looking outward from within the mist

The world provides a plethora of visions

Some real, some struggling to exist

All seen through darkly clouded prisms

The mind attempts to focus, but to no avail

Reality is but an illusion at best

The human mind too frail

To see, to grasp, to wrest

Life becomes cluttered with fragments of thoughts

And one spirals downward out of control

Each step forward subject to lingering plights

Grabbing, twisting and shredding the soul

How did the spirit get to this place?

Devoid of body. No escape to be seen

Smoke rises from nowhere in an eerie embrace

Suddenly fright is transformed to the serene

One drifts for hours in the grasp of pleasure

No thoughts of body. Only divine spiritual repose

The mind free to explore at its leisure

All things possible for it to compose

As suddenly as serenity arrived it is lost

Replaced by the feeling of rising from the dead

Body reattaching to the spirit at painful cost

The mist clearing. The ache pounding in one’s head

The coldness of the concrete presses against the cheek

Noise crashes into the mind with irresistible force

The alley is deserted as you struggle to speak

There is no one to hear you. There is only the voice of remorse.

The needle and syringe lie inches away

Faces of those long lost from your life appear - and then disappear

The needle holds you totally at bay

Heroin is your master. To its command you must adhere.

Your hands tremble as you tear open the tiny sack

The spoon accepts it and fire beneath it brings melting heat

The needle dips into the bubbling liquid… no turning back

One stroke and the journey back into the mist is complete

Poem Comments

(18)

: Please login or register

You must be logged in or register a new account in order to
leave comments/feedback and rate this poem.
Login or Register

SavVySam commented on Visions from Within the Mist 11-03-2009: Such a sad existence. I attended a drug seminar once and I most remembered the insidiously seductive hold Heroin seemed to have on those who gave testimony. An important and timely message.; Reply to Comment

Hampton 11/03/2009: Thank you for readng and commenting.

IzzyGumbo commented on Visions from Within the Mist 10-27-2009: Wow this is an amazing write my friend! Your words create a very vivid picture of addiction.; Reply to Comment

Hampton 10/28/2009: Thank you very much.

Hiporlacking commented on Visions from Within the Mist 10-23-2009: I believe it was Bayer that first marketed heroin as a non-addictive alternative to morphine. Talk about a fumble. I've known more than a few people who have lost their lives to opiates. Some dead...others zombified. It's very sad to say say someone has lost their life, while their heart is still beating. You are talented to have written this but not experienced it. Either that or you caught that documentary on the history channel the other day. Either way...well done Hampton; Reply to Comment

Hampton 10/23/2009: Thank you very much. Although I have never personally experienced it the mere writing of this poem tore at my flesh as I imagined the cruelty of the disease.

JCKasper commented on Visions from Within the Mist 10-23-2009: The harsh reality of life --- So sad, but true! We can only pray that our loved ones, especially our children, do not fall victim to this insidious self-destructive path!; Reply to Comment

Hampton 10/23/2009: Well said. Thank you.

devaamido commented on Visions from Within the Mist 10-22-2009: Hampton, this is very good poem, in that it expresses your point of view in terms that are so viscerally repugnant it would inspire almost anybody not to get into that. It's not that what you've said isn't true... it mostly IS true...but at the same time, these aren't the words an actively using heroin user would describe this experience...it's like a guy from our generation would write it...not that there's anything bad about that...matter of fact I like it.; Reply to Comment

Hampton 10/23/2009: As I have no direct experince with drug addicts, or even hard drugs for that matter, my descriptions are based on my own imagination which I am sure was inspired by stories I have read or movies I have seen.

Load more comments

Title	Comments	Submitted
Title	Comments	Submitted
Searching	5	03/20/2011
The Poetess	14	02/01/2011
Nonsense	12	01/25/2011
Solitude	18	01/18/2011
Lame Limericks	14	01/16/2011
Message to Papa	15	01/15/2011
Young Jimmy O’Fallon	11	01/08/2011
The Computer From Hell	18	01/06/2011
Life Ain’t for Sissies	16	01/01/2011
The Mind In Motion	13	12/30/2010
The Game of Poetry	9	12/23/2010
Silence	55	12/17/2010
WordSlinger	19	12/12/2010
Holiday Thoughts	12	12/03/2010
Sweet Mary	18	12/01/2010
From White to Grey to Black	19	11/17/2010
The Reckoning	12	11/14/2010
And All of That Jazz	16	11/13/2010
Today	25	11/01/2010
No Offense, Just My Opinion	16	10/31/2010
Lucky	10	10/27/2010
You’re Only as Old as You Feel	13	10/23/2010
Saturday Night	13	10/20/2010
Political Change?	14	10/19/2010
The Female Gender	17	10/15/2010
I’m In Charge Here, Aren’t I? ( With Epilogue)	10	10/14/2010
I’m In Charge Here, Aren’t I?	7	10/13/2010
Remembering	11	09/22/2010
This Web We Weave	13	09/19/2010
The End	16	09/07/2010
The Day the Clouds Cried	16	09/02/2010
The Path of Life	12	08/27/2010
My Mother Ruth	12	08/01/2010
Forever–ast er	11	07/25/2010
Humanities Challenge	14	07/24/2010
A Cowboy's Perspective	12	07/23/2010
July in Buda Texas	14	07/12/2010
The OP Poets Parade	20	07/12/2010
The Chatelaine	12	06/23/2010
Shot Through the Heart	17	06/16/2010
Poetry and Fine Wine	18	06/13/2010
The Man What Am	10	06/09/2010
The Final Beat of My Heart	16	06/05/2010
The Rainbow of Poets	19	05/31/2010
A Cowboy's Lament	13	05/14/2010
Of This World I am Not	17	05/08/2010
The Wee People	19	05/04/2010
An Evening at an Irish Pub	15	04/20/2010
The Scent of Love	14	04/18/2010
Fresh News from Buda Texas	16	04/11/2010
Memories of Times Past	13	04/11/2010
The Dance of the Poets	20	04/03/2010
The Confession	14	03/21/2010
Road to Obscurity	18	03/20/2010
Barbara	14	03/09/2010
Shadows	15	02/28/2010
Prescience	17	02/16/2010
Words That Bind	54	01/29/2010
Wondering	26	01/06/2010
New Year News from Buda Texas	13	01/02/2010
We Are All Witnesses	16	12/28/2009
Christmas	25	12/14/2009
A Cowboy’s Prayer	29	12/10/2009
The 9 ers	24	12/01/2009
Love Defined	27	11/30/2009
Tis a Time to Give Thanks	21	11/23/2009
More News From Buda Texas	26	11/18/2009
Choices	26	11/15/2009
News from Buda, Texas	21	11/10/2009
In Search of God	21	11/09/2009
Writers of Poems (WOPs)	26	11/04/2009
Out of the Darkness	15	10/29/2009
Visions from Within the Mist	18	10/20/2009
Baseball	12	10/16/2009
The Night Stalker	16	10/16/2009
The Man I Presume to be Buck	16	10/12/2009
The Sounds of Time	17	10/03/2009
The Little Man in the Green Hat	18	10/02/2009
Blah Blah Blah	14	09/27/2009
One Two Three	13	09/22/2009
Carpe Viam	11	09/16/2009
Love in the Afternoon	13	09/11/2009
The Moth	14	09/08/2009
Lost & Dungeons of the Mind	11	08/31/2009
The Creative Process	19	08/28/2009
The Truth and the Tribe	19	08/23/2009
The Long Wait.	19	08/19/2009
Feathers	26	08/14/2009
The Arrow	14	08/06/2009
Take Two Cialis and Call Me in the Morning	26	10/30/2009
Ghostly Images	16	07/25/2009
Friends	11	07/21/2009
Angels Without Wings	20	10/04/2009
IN MY OWN WORDS	13	07/16/2009
The Rider	16	07/08/2009
Pride and Shame	18	07/02/2009
The Winning Poet is....	21	06/20/2009
Memories	13	06/19/2009
Politicians	67	10/05/2009
Your Mailbox Is Empty	18	10/01/2009
God's Visit	17	06/08/2009
Poets and Poems	20	06/05/2009
Love Thy Neighbor	13	06/03/2009
Renewal	8	06/03/2009
The Roar of Silence	17	06/01/2009
Blessed Are These Days	4	06/01/2009
Time and Space	5	05/27/2009
Life's Journey	8	05/21/2009
Gift To The Fallen	16	05/21/2009
Hunger	21	05/18/2009
The Antique Shop	30	05/13/2009