I don’t think I’ve seen this particular painting by Michael Whelan before. But when I did come across it, it spoke to me 🙂
I think almost as soon as I looked at the painting, I got the first two lines of the poem — my wife and I have this running joke based on the title of a short story by Harlan Ellison, “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream“. We say things like “I have no hands, and I must clap” (and other variations) to each other.
I kind of leaned into this with the first two lines and left it at that till I came back to the poem later. When I did, it kind of felt fitting to go on from there and take the whole loss of being imagery further.
A small confession — when I wrote “I have no brain, but surely I must dream”, I hadn’t actually noticed the brain in the painting 😀 I was mostly concentrating on the lower half of the painting at that point. It was only later that I zoomed in and saw the brain and realized that it all fit.
Darkness
by Fahim FarookI have no mouth, and yet I must scream,
I have no brain, but I surely must dream,
My eyes have fallen out, but I must see,
My whole being is lost, and yet I must be.Life is sometimes a nightmare,
You wake up in the darkness and you stare,
Shadows can be spiders, or monstrous foes,
Waiting to swallow you whole, with fanged jaws.But the terrors of your mind’s eye,
Are but nought to those that get by,
Terrors unthought, lurking unseen,
Giving you rushes of adrenaline.Banishing these fears and finding joy,
With light’s flame, darkness destroy,
Be the light that shines bright,
Encouraging others in their own fight.
