ITCH OF PITCH

ITCH OF PITCH

Of Poe's beloved 'Lenore'
Of that haunting name 'Nevermore'
Of the Raven to abhor
Is emptiness evermore
Pitch-black coaxing me to 'explore.'

Pitch-black coaxing as none before.

Into this thick dark and deep
Descending hand over hand in darkness steep
Into this abundance
With loneliness replete
I arrived with promises, promises to seek.

There to grasp, to understand
There to search, to demand
Despite the absence of sanity, defiantly grand
I walked as victim by one's own hand
To in circles stalk self, as self proband!

Realizing hardest it is to escape this pitch!
Straining, sweating, groaning; itching with itch
Straining, sweating, pulling; not to succumb
Over and over, citing and reciting, 23rd the Psalm
Snapping back to light with renewed aplomb.

Citing and reciting until released therefrom!

This torture of tortures from which to flee
This venture far, from light's center, that I may...be.