Fierceness yet folly of Friday night riots
Has me reaching for bands of my past like Slayer,
Slipknot and raging songs about 'angels of
Death' and places 'south of heaven.' I get angrier
With each passing verse and more violent my pulse
Playing 'pulse of the maggots' raising my
Blood pressure beyond a safe 'threshold,' the volume
Increasing, my face contorted, scowling, 'nero forte.'
Plunging, I've plunged into the depths of darkness, a relapse
Into 'Gehenna' I've now experienced, falling
Downward, driven by ‘daily dialogue’ to
Feel as you feel, to understand your freefall,
Only to come up again gasping, grasping for Light
Cause 'a saint is a sinner' who tries and keeps trying.
Gary Edward Geraci
-
Author:
Gary Edward Geraci (
Offline) - Published: June 13th, 2020 13:28
- Comment from author about the poem: For those with family members or friends hospitalized with drug addictions... I wrote "Relapse" in a non-rhyming Sonnet form. "Daily Dialogue" is a technique for married couples to improve their interpersonal communication skills. For me, I first scoffed at the notion of breaking down feelings (or even admitting to having feelings worth bringing out) into colors or giving them numbered intensity ratings from 1 to 10, or making the feelings comparable to some shared event of the past. But all that changed with practice and along with that I developed a recognition for the importance of expressing feelings. Feelings, I learned, are neither right nor wrong and men, we are not obliged to solve them when our wives are expressing them to us. And so here I am in the present with a person who is battling, yet again, an addiction to drugs; easily angered and frustrated, caged in by the prison like side effects of cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Since this anger and frustration can be easily blown out to the world on social media, this is where I met him and responding without thinking, I compared the feelings expressed to those conjured up to those we would feel when we listened to our favorite death metal bands of the past: Slayer and Slipnot. We had even attended a Slayer concert together. To experience the feelings as he was feeling it, on my drive to daily Mass, I asked Alexa to play Slayer and Slipknot. And these were the songs that I listened to: Angels of Death, South of Heaven, Pulse of the Maggots, Threshold, Nero Forte, and Gehenna and that was enough. Yes, I even increased the volume and I was instantly taken back to a darker day. Just like that - I could feel as my friend was feeling. Gritting my teeth and ready to punch the next pious schmuck who would tell me that my beard is too long or try to shove a container of Clorox wipes in my face to wipe my seat of COVID-19, I proceeded into Mass. Graciously, the efficacious effects of the Mass, the Holy Spirit, and our Lord in the Eucharist healed my interior discomposure. On the way home it was Gregorian Chant on Pandora that I asked Alexa to play. Then it was a post from the followers of a disgraced former priest and their group, "Father Corapi Catholic Channel," that summed it all up for me in a moment of understanding, a poignant and revealing reminder that I thank the Holy Spirit for its timely delivery: "A Saint is A Sinner Who Keeps Trying" -St. Josemaria Escriva
- Category: Spiritual
- Views: 12
Offline)
Comments1
I can't say I've experienced helping anyone battling addiction to drugs. I can see how that sort of evil music could make things worse. I cant stand the repetitive beat of some music. Erm, you wouldn't find me at a Slipknot concert!
🤣👌🤣 No - me either Orchidee. I suppose I’ve simply grown away from it. Thanks for stopping by.
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