Destiny's Depths



Deep in the dungeon of destiny,
A dynasty of delusions sing their siren songs.
I feel Detached,
Defeated… Heated,
By the fiery indigestion
Of believing I am subject to reality,
And the sad sensation of knowing I know better.
Dust dangles from my eyelashes
As I heavy blink in disbelief.
It’s dark down here
In the forever dusk of cowardice,
In the complacent climate of clambering for hollow highlights.
Then I see a flickering light,
A phantom of myself
Strolling through the Milky Way,
Plucking stars from the cosmic soup and eating them like grapes.
The light explodes inside me,
Filling every crevice of my being.
I define my destiny,
And dust off my dirty knees,
To return to earth…
Not a victim,
But a victor.
Not subject to,
But the subject of.
Made of the same matter as
Mother, mouse and moon,
Rolling rivers and royalty.
I am a radical collection of free radicals and negative ions,
Notoriously negotiating
The need for validity.
I don’t fit in,
I do fit in.
I am…
And in that there is no question if I belong.
I am brave and beautiful,
Though I cringe to boast,
Because I have eaten all the lies that said I am not worthy,
I am nothing and it is wrong to believe in my greatness.
Regardless, I am not here to host,
I am here to exist,
To shine, the way only I can,
The same as every other divine being,
Which is every being.
I am shedding the shackles
That shrouded my vision
And nearly smothered my existence.
I am the director of my destiny
And this time around,
You will not be finding me on my knees,
Unless I am planting seeds.

About this poem

I wrote this piece for empowerment. The poem starts in the oppressive trenches of feeling powerless, then blasts to the galaxies to remember the stardust within, and ends returning back to the earth, unshackled and healing.

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Written on December 21, 1982

Submitted by ashleigh_b on July 12, 2022

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:38 min read
48

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEAFGHIJKLMNOAPAQRSFTUVWAXPAYYZ1 2 3 AJ3 4 5 PP6 E7 A8 Q9
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,554
Words 328
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 51

Ashleigh Britton Addison

I grew up with a single mom, mostly in Florida. Music, the arts, and love are my passions. I play piano, guitar, and djembe. I started performing at age 18 at a local queer coffee house. At 23, I started traveling and living off music.... gypsy style. Booking gigs and busking all across the US and British Columbia, Canada. I lived 7 years in BC, and have returned back to Florida, and am engaged. I have lived a pretty wild and magical, musical life. Music and poetry allow my emotions to attach to words, escape my body, and make room for more highs and lows. more…

All Ashleigh Britton Addison poems | Ashleigh Britton Addison Books

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1 Comment
  • Badjuju5.5
    I love the emotion I felt coming from the words. The words reached out to me
    LikeReply1 year ago

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"Destiny's Depths" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/133265/destiny's-depths>.

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