Manic Haibun - Robert Allen

one day after a week of mental shakes and confusion I suddenly stopped sleeping for five days I’m told my brain was in flames voices were telling me to expand to open to be free angels called me to ecstasy to extend in space like a whirling dynamo their voices were flowers in the wind sweet solemn and fragrant more of a scent than a voice it was the highest joy imaginable yet everything still spun apart nothing made sense a blur of whirling energies surrounded me and swallowed me whole I was and I was not and the ground simply disappeared beneath me just months before all had been well something in the autumn wind shifted the blaze took my house once a summer yellow was now the color of ashes and grief smoldering in the woods an unwanted coal dark and coal burned heap it took years to recover and breathe when I did finally breathe it was lake water calm and golden sun warm with calm easing the fluctuations of mind and song

***

a house on fire

needs the flames quelled outwardly

a mind on fire, in

Originally published by Pulp Lit Mag, June 2024

Robert Allen lives in Oakland, CA with his family where he writes poems, takes long walks, and seeks beauty everywhere. His most recent chapbook, "Aphasia" is now available from Inkfish Press. www.robertallenpoet.com