A Series of Doors

My mind is full of portals, images
By which I may take leave of my senses
Per say and give over my self, array
The thought in clothes of ethereal play,
And don the crown of majesty by one
Motion of the hand; for when I am done
With the day I labor tirelessly  
To understand the worth I have won, free
Myself from hindrances such as concern
And let through the barriers that do turn
Within my mind the overwhelming grace
That reaffirms my dignity, my place.
Then all at once these doors do disappear,
For all at once you have come, you draw near.

My mind becomes a myriad of walls,
Where none may exit save through the labyrinth
Of God's will; dare I exit premature
And fail to see what lies at the end of
This bland mortar stretch? Now I move, he calls,
And I make my way through the hyacinth
Fragrance that peppers the floor, am unsure
Whether or not to turn back from this love
That seems strange, that I do abhor! For some
Reason keeps me thinking this is a trap
From which no man returns; once overcome
By the throws of sleep man cannot then map
The halls of his dreams, nor the depths therein;
Oft he meets not only virtue but sin.

Images fleetingly cross the walls bare
Without so much as a sound, raise my hair
To such heights I had thought they took their leave
From the body. And I do now believe
That wherever I was going is not
Where I am, and that this place is all shot
Full of deception; now I plan, as ought
All when in such a position, to run
From this place, and pull from my side a gun,
Though I know not how it came to be there;
Still, tis a dream, and in a dream all's fair.
Yet hardly had I taken to my heels
Was a roar behind me sounded; as keels
Do reel from rocks beneath did I then feel.

Now dark goes the dream, but the sound remains,
The growl, the hiss, a most deadly refrain
Echos down the hallway of stone I tread,
And I long to wake up, go back to bed!
A door opens right, and I see to my
Relief there lies a way out of this ply
I did find myself in; though very narrow
In breadth is this door to my faint surprise,
And I am unable to in this guise
Enter in. So my heart begins to race
Once more, as chains clank on the floor; I face
Down this monster of cold emotion's breed,
Determined he should not upon me feed. 
Then the wall behind me opened up wide,
And I heard the soft sound of laughing pride.

A light as bright as the sun was there, but
Faint was it's source; how odd is that to me.
He spoke with words that did support, and shut
The door to my right with a sly smile. Free
Was I to walk away, but bound by such
A gaze as was his I forgot the touch
Of cold dread that still approached from behind;
This cold intellect had chilled my quaking mind.
Rather faint was the sound of clanking chains,
His voice seemed to sooth and shake my old pains.
Yet suddenly I heard a voice most clear
That told me death was close, was very near.
The light did frown, and grimace, then did snarl,
The clanking grew, and my own mind did whirl...

                  A Series of Doors, (c) Luke Bennette, July 2012