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The ups and downs of a super charged mind – depression and notions of life’s end, socially embedded predispositions and inhibitions brought back to light out of the darkness. To create dialogue and nurture a cooperative, PRO-HUMAN spirit that emerges a healing for the continuance of a more PROACTIVE life. Artistically expressed through Images with Words by social activist, mystic, performance artist ~Keith Alan Hamilton~ Dedicated to Madeline Sharples, her son Paul, Regina Walker, her sister Dolores, Team S.O.L.E.S – those they remember, and the AFSP Out of the Darkness Walks. Peace out !
being normal
like normal ~
normally
I seem abnormal
acquire normalcy ~
perhaps
or come to know
fully realize
bring back
from the darkness
into the light
all inhibitions
and predispositions
about normalcy
to let them go
and find acceptance
within ~
My
Abnormalities
Normality
peace out
Image & Words by ~Keith Alan Hamilton~
I’m a survivor
who travels
from darkness to light
or from the light
to darkness
fully experiencing
all the shades of gray
between the two
at times
this journey
called life
can be lonely
and sad
even though
others are around
ridden with doubt
fear and conflict
shadowed
with the possibility of
life’s end
however
such moments
of affliction
offer up
those opportunities
for courage
and a chance for
a renewal
of self worth and purpose
a coming out of
the darkness
that gleefully brings
the spirit of
joy and hope
back for a while
as bright as
the sun
not to be eclipsed
by the moon
I’m a survivor
peace out
Image & Words by ~Keith Alan Hamilton~
This poem is one of two I have written and dedicated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, funding research, advocacy, survivor support, education, and awareness programs – both to prevent suicide and to assist those affected by suicide.
Please donate to these 2 Out of the Darkness Overnight walks that I will be doing with two of my dearest friends on planet earth. I need to raise a $1,000.00 for each 16 mile walk. Those like Madeline and Regina who know my story understand how important it is to me to raise awareness to this great cause.
As a social activist performance artist, I will be creating and walking as a body metaphor by wearing all black clothes and a hood to symbolize the transitional process – to bring back to light out of the darkness, to air out, and confront through the healing process of dialogue, those inhibitions and predispositions that cast a dark shadow over those who struggle with depression and thoughts of suicide. Come out and cheer us on…..
San Francisco Walk with Madeline Tasky Sharples
http://theovernight.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=17166
New York Walk with Regina A Walker
http://theovernight.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=17468
thoughts of suicide
hidden in the shadows ~ running
around and around
in a darkened mind
that’s socially conditioned
to think it is possessed
by a demon
resistent to exorcism ….
with a fear of discovery
of what others may think
how others may react
thoughts of repercussion like ~
loss of job
being committed
to an insane asylum
reputation
will be tarnished
with the lingering stench
of the label
mentally ill
branded across the forehead
put
in a straight jacket
get electroshock therapy
be held
captive in a drug induced
coma
and hear
whispers in the night
of words like ~
bi-polar
severely depressed
lost soul
if only
if only
thoughts of suicide
held secretly in a mind
could be brought to light
out of the darkness
be heard
without judgement
or fear of repercussion
and then helped to turn
such thoughts
into a life worth living
a mind
filled to the brim
with thoughts …..
….. overflowing with love
hope and joy
forevermore
peace out
Image & Words by ~Keith Alan Hamilton~
This poem is dedicated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, funding research, advocacy, survivor support, education, and awareness programs – both to prevent suicide and to assist those affected by suicide.
Please donate to these 2 Out of the Darkness Overnight walks that I will be doing with two of my dearest friends on planet earth. I need to raise a $1,000.00 for each 16 mile walk. Those like Madeline and Regina who know my story understand how important it is to me to raise awareness to this great cause.
San Francisco walk with Madeline Tasky Sharples
http://theovernight.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=17166
New York Walk with Regina A Walker
http://theovernight.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=17468
This revised story poem from a previous book is dedicated to my muse, photography mentor, fellow artist and eternally dear friend, Regina Walker …. I will always be there for her as she has for me. Peace and Love !
as the days of December
come to their finish in 2015
I ponder the objectives
I had chose to finish
by the end of the year
like running and finishing
a marathon
as a performance artist
who would create
a body metaphor
that included wearing
all dark clothes
with a hood
which I did in Richmond VA
and finishing
this story style poem
the last of all written
for each monthly edition
of the Year of the Poet II
along with my other
esteemed
Poetry Posse
social activist artists
published by Inner Child Press
but some objectives
I did not finish
and will have to be
carried over
into the ones
for next year
’cause I still
haven’t finished getting
the tattoos
on my arms and legs
with words that make up
the title of my book series
Nature ~ IQ:
Let’s Survive, Not Die!
and the symbols for each book
a baby ~ a butterfly
and an eagle
….. my mentor Regina Walker
still has to write that article
about my vision and mission
for doing all the things I do….
my book
Peace Out Poems
about
MY
ABNORMALITIES
NORMAILY
and about her and I
…… finishing in June 2016
a 16 mile walk
a part of Team S.O.L.E.S
the Out of the Darkness
Overnight walk in NYC
for the AFSP
I will never finish being there
for her as
she has been for me
~ ‘cause
in doing so ~
by staying proactive together
not overly focused on our own
trials and tribulations
but more on the plight
of others
especially
those who suffer
from the emotional pains of
depression
or being bipolar
’cause of their
mental condition
may consider
the finish of life
through the act of
suicide ~
in the act of helping others
to survive
we hopefully
will help ourselves
along with
everyone else
finish the walk of life
in joy
fulfillment
and most of all
with the feelings
of love and peace
however ……
just like
THE HUMAN RACE
the Poetry Posse
The Year of the Poet
and the memory
of friendships made in life
…… during the struggle
some things don’t need to finish
I’m a finisher that prays
not all things should have a finish
however …..
I’m finished with
this story style poem
about finishing
peace out
Image & Words by ~Keith Alan Hamilton~
This poem is dedicated to the author of Leaving the Hall Light On, Madeline Sharples. She is one of my closest and dearest friends on planet earth. My hero ! I love her so……
summer brings to mind
fun in the sun
and vacation
~ sittin’
on the deck
with martini in hand
~ cookin’
on the grill
~ hangin’
with friends
and neighbors
~ nuttin’
wrong with that I say
but for me
this year
I’ll be having fun
on June 27th
~ kickin’
off
the summer season
~ walkin’
16 plus miles
the event
Out of the Darkness
Overnight walk in Boston
with one of my heroes
in life
author
Madeline Sharples
who wrote a memoir with poems
Leaving the Hall Light On
to preserve the memory
of her son Paul
who had bipolar disorder
and committed suicide
how she and her family
managed to live on
afterwards
as I said
~ doin’
something like that
is fun
for me
in mind and body
and spiritually refreshing
to the soul
truly a break from it all
a vacation
of the highest order
selfless service
the act of
~ givin’
way more than just
~ takin’
from the experience
of life
~ durin’
the season of summer
peace out
Words by ~Keith Alan Hamilton~
This poem will be a part of the June edition that’s a collaboration by the 2015 Poetry Posse – The Year of the Poet II published by Inner Child Press. Buy your monthly copy Here: http://www.innerchildpress.com/the-year-of-the-poet.php
darkness descends
as a fog upon mind
pervasive and murky
forlornly stirring
emotive tidal waters
beyond a breaker’s
dissipative efficacy
ensued by time
transformed either
as the void enabling
listless apathy
or a recuperative
reservoir for healing
bestowing hiatus
until mental integrity
transcends into
a brighter resilience
fading awareness
as to the dark’s
depressive activity
peace out
Words by ~Keith Alan Hamilton~
suspended aimlessly
deep within
a pool of despair
drunk as an alcoholic
longingly dependent
upon that drink
despite the ill effect
called hangover
so knowingly
filled with melancholy ~
despairingly trapped
within a cycle
habitual in behavior
through time
irrational and emotional
mind paralysis
destructive in mood
helplessly awaiting
wanting release
a break in the pattern
from this recurrent
dismal quandary
bent on achieving
a self-disapproval ~
repressed perilously
suppressed within
from a hell-bound guilt
kindled subconsciously
on a façade
that reinforces
self-replicating doubt
fostered endlessly
during the throws
of collective influence
with its derivative
socially embedded
conditioning
postulating deviation
as an abnormality ~
bombastically flogged
within passivity
bewildered
perplexed
as to the complex
process of chaotic mind
feeling downtrodden
at rock bottom
self-realization begins
from undergoing
the lived experience
the mental
the emotional
the spiritual
and the physical
degradation of it all
self-disillusion
cleanses by purging
oneself of its guilt
leaving nothing else
but self-acceptance ~
freeing self-inhibitions
overtime within
the tutorship
of self-acceptance
enhancing willpower
to rise above the fray
using self-empathy
by learning
through knowing
self-acknowledgment
self-understanding
and self-compassion
coming to self-realize
that a jacked-up mind
always thinking
never wanting to rest
cyclically undergoing
highs and lows
ups and downs
eventually
spiraling down
crash landing
from exhaustion
splashing
sinking into
suffering for awhile
a depressive slump
a certain moodiness
after a relentless
firing of circuitry
during your own
process of mind
inside your brain
is nothing other than
a progressively
intelligent
self-evolution
self-accepted for now
as one’s very special
yet somewhat different
abnormalities normality
peace out
Words by ~Keith Alan Hamilton~
I’m for the living
not that dying thingy
gotta like moving
and doing something
over laying around stiff
and doing nothing
with the beef jerky
look going on
wasting time
getting
riper than ripe
where smelling
is the purpose
along with
rotting to the bone ~
I prefer the living thingy
smelling the roses
sweating after doing
the down and dirty
sort of like that pig
wallowing in the mire
just to feed
from that
barnyard trough
only to
relish in the
crap of the day
‘cause living is better
than basking in the dark
of that damn coffin
being lowered
at the end of the day
into that motionless
bottomless
and as far as time
perpetual abyss
peace out
Words by ~Keith Alan Hamilton~
composing something,
putting it into words
expressing my thoughts
for others to read
about my life
as a mystic,
is not always easy
even though,
I’m a regular
everyday kind of guy
who functions well
like everyone else
while living along
with other life
and non-life
in a physical reality
called ~ Nature
~ whatever I write
no matter if,
a quote,
poetry or prose
it’s origin
is cognitively
an emergent
activity of mind
that spirit ~ symbolically,
referred to as
the breath of life
as theorized
autopoeitically
by Humberto Maturana,
Francisco Varela
and later Fritjof Capra
as something
going on,
inside my body
through which
those words
delivered through
my type of style,
characteristically
are all birthed from
within the process
of my thinking ~
~ and yet,
for me at least
as a poet/writer
fully knowing,
I can only speak for myself
as to my lived experience
as a mystic,
its embodiment
is that of
an empathic felt sense,
that seems as if to be
intuitively and emotively
~ psychic
somehow so,
‘cause of my being
able to tap into the realm
of the archetypical
spoke of by Carl Jung
all that information
stored in Nature’s energy
of which Edgar Cayce
called the “akashic records”
a reservoir for thoughts
or “collective consciousness”
~ for me at times
this process
living the light
of this
cosmic high
if becoming
unbalanced
can be both
mentally
and physically
exhausting
forcing me
to retreat
into the depths
encompassing
the dark pit
all to familiar
to us like,
Edgar Allan Poe ~
~ let me clarify
for example
the year was 2002
and I,
yes me,
got it in my head
that thing residing
between
my shoulders,
to leave my career
why ~
so I,
could write full-time
and what a trip it was,
like a Timothy Leary
experiment,
with LSD
suddenly being freed
according to my thinking
of my inhibitions
by way of me
being totally
immersed
~ 24/7
within my thoughts
writing quotes,
poetry and prose
with
all
brain circuits
full speed ahead
firing as bright
as a white dwarf
pulsating like some
electromagnetic field
holding all matter together
while appearing
able to jump
through the vortex
into the parallel universe
that David Ike
and Robert Anton Wilson
speak of,
the space continuum
where ET dwells
I,
explored
the enfolds and unfolds
of the holomovement
physical reality’s
implicate
and explicate order
as explained
by David Bohm
~ I flew high
day in and day out
as if I was an eagle
soaring in the wind
amidst the
mountain tops
vicariously being myself
~ until I,
crashed
down
into the
“valley of
the shadow
of death”
as mentioned in the
Twenty-third Psalm
where the ghost
of Ernst Hemmingway
and his fate
flashed before my eyes
~ eventually,
I,
crawled out of the darkness
and back into the light
where I more fully realized
now understood,
after a year of living
this sobering reality
I,
me,
being alone
with me
wallowing within
the sweet melancholy
of my thoughts
writing endlessly
thought after thought
word after word
wasn’t really,
really
the best thing
for me to do
the healthiest way
to fulfill the aspirations
within the expectations
of my journey into words
~ so I,
through a process of
intelligent progression
within my lived experience,
now write only part-time
while going back
to work full-time
so I,
for a little while
a few hours in the day
through distraction
can get away
yes ~ take a break
find some relief
~ ~
from me
and my thoughts
peace out
Words by ~Keith Alan Hamilton~
jolted from an airless gasp
I flail away the last vestige
of some twitchy nightmare
laced with vex and discord
given that forgone fate
not to be remembered
seemingly,
taking place
without the kindness
of notice ~
I’m coarsely accosted
at the border of darkness
by the light ~
that gambit
alerting to those
lively happenings
held in reserve for day
now beckoning attention
from a sleep drunk mind
hovering in dreamy ether
peace out
Words by ~Keith Alan Hamilton~