Cast Beyond Myself

Wretch that I am,

weighed down

by these ailing thoughts

that undo me

with blow after blow of “I should have…” ;

I can bear no more.

Night after night,

the harpies of my mind

torment me

and grant me not a moment’s rest.

How many years

have you torn from me

with your ceaseless lies.

Have mercy;

let me live

beyond your hold.

If madness was your aim,

my congratulations:

you have prevailed —

I am lost within it.

And even if

the angels of reason

were to come to my aid,

none could reach me.

This tempest has swept me away,

cast me

beyond all reach —

beyond myself.