Sheila Mercon

Poems, Prose, Thoughts, Scribbles, Photos, Etc.

[twosoulfishbowl]

Get to the Point

[lookingforwisdom]

A Word by David Jibson

In Post Card Poetry and Prose:

[twosoulfishbowl]

Hingham

Choppy, sloshing waves toss the sail boat moored in the turbulent harbor.

Fiberglass hull squealing but keel keeping a semblance of balance. Boats are built to withstand weather.

Below deck, drowning in my thoughts.

stumbling and pushing on the wall like a drunkard - I look out the porthole.

A man on the docks kneels at a tripod under smokey clouds, camera aimed at the darkening water

And me, just another piece of the scenery.

(C) Sheila Mercon, 2019

[twosoulfishbowl]

But They Closed the Asylums (or Visiting)

The room captures the auras of past patients and restrains their spirits of madness and beauty tightly within.  

Fluorescent lights create an unearthly glow and illuminate 100 years of decay (layers of paint can only hide so much). And the locked window, rusted bars, caging our reflections.

Small talk, how’s the food? repetitive motion, catch and release we toss the blue stress ball at the wall. The echoes fill our ears when the conversation dies.

This room has held hundreds of souls and now, it holds ours tight. It squeezes, but we don’t speak. The air thickens, but we just breathe deeper.

Until it’s just you and me, and the ceaseless pounding ricocheting through the room;

the thudding slowly driving the ghosts insane.

(c) Sheila Mercon, 2014, 2019

[twosoulfishbowl]

“For the Tortured Artist (My Brother)” © Sheila Mercon, 2019 

[twosoulfishbowl]

“Don’t Fall for the Boy You Met in the Psych Ward” Sheila Mercon, © 2017

[twosoulfishbowl]

Some Thoughts on the Eclipse

Hey guys. Can we all take a minute to appreciate the fact that everyone's excited about the Solar Eclipse? News stations are covering it; people are posting about it. For just a *little* bit, most of the people in America are going to be looking at the same spectacle, with the same awe and wonder. For a few hours, we'll all be focused on the same thing. The coolest thing about an eclipse is the contradiction. The sun is blotted out in near total darkness, but the sliver of light breaking through is the most powerful part. It is so bright, it will blind you if you look straight at it. Our country is hurting and angry and broken and covered in darkness right now, but the light shining through is more powerful. If we can all come together with a child-like sense of wonder at an astronomical event like this, maybe we could carry some of that with us after the fact. We're not thinking about hatred right now. We're not thinking about anger. We're thinking about the awesomeness that is our natural world. The amazing fact that science could predict this 40+ years out. The fact that we all get to be here. Now. To witness this. I believe, at its core, humanity is good. I believe we are good. I believe that it's amazing that we all get to witness the contrast; wonder at the sight of the darkness, be awestruck by the light creeping around the edges, and watch as the sun re-emerges from its shroud and shines again, strong and full. And maybe we can think on that a little. Maybe we can look the darkness straight on, and recognize the light is never fully gone. Maybe we can see the beauty in the dichotomy, while resting in the knowledge that, ultimately, the sun will win out and the light will return. Maybe we can stand united in our child-like love of our beautiful world for a little longer than 3 hours on a Monday afternoon. Wear your glasses. Enjoy the view. See the beauty that is a passing darkness. Protect yourself from being blinded by the light. Know that the light will be back in the end. And know that, for just a short period of time in one of the most turbulent moments in our history, we all looked up with the wide, curious, and beautiful eyes of children and found one of the most basic commonalities in all of humanity - our amazement of the natural world. Love you all.