This piece was done for a Wordplay Workshop Pic Challenge.

(This is slightly different than what appeared in the challenge, but its only a word or 2 difference)

Unworthy

Upon this gate I gaze
wondering if I did enough in the maze
Have I been the best person I can be?

No.

I have not
I do not deserve these steps
these are for the pure of soul
I have not earned this reward
I can not pay the toll
My demons have controlled me
and kept me in the darkness
They are the reason for my torment
I am only hoping for redemption
A chance at resurrection
To be the man I know I should be
But I know it is too late for me..
My soul has been sold and I am awaiting my hell
My sins I must confess
This can not be my fate
Please God, tell me its not too late

© 2008 Michael Egidio Quigg

(spoken version to come)

Ceaseless

I have no complaints
On my future, there is no constraint
But its there
Forever there
Lurking around each corner
Hovering over my heart
Waiting to envelop me
and return me to its chains

The darkness does not go away
Hope’s light may,
but the darkness does not

Battles have been fought and won
Demons have been slain
and ghosts have been exorcised

Why can my soul not rest?
What test have I failed?
Everyday woes in comparison paled
As my hands,
Reaching
Clutching
Grasping
Trying to stop my slide
But I cant stem the tide and I am swallowed up
Hollowed out and crumpled on the floor
A spineless shell of the man I was before
My soul consumed by darkness
These demons still haunt me
These goddamn fears still taunt me
and I am gripped by sadness
If for no other reason than because I draw breath

Copyright ©2008 Michael Egidio Quigg

As read on The SpeakEasy Cafe 1/31/08

For My Wife

One heart
One soul
One mind of love
You are my light from above
So many tests
So many trials
So many tears
So many miles
But together we are still
Our will unfaltering
Our desire unfading
I draw my every breath
To breathe in of you
Your love pure and true
We are one because of you
The only thing in my life upon which I can rely
Is our love which I once stupidly tried to deny
But your strength has carried us through
We are one, because of you

Copyright ©2008 Michael Egidio Quigg

As read on The SpeakEasy Cafe 1/24/08

The Ink I Bleed

To be alive
To strive for something more
For a chance in the fight
to turn the dark to light
To give a dream a heartbeat
and know I can be complete
To fight the ghosts
that haunt my heart and soul
For pain diagnosed
and its terrible toll
To cleanse of the rotten
For a chance to be more
than forgotten

Copyright ©2008 Michael Egidio Quigg

My parts are italicized .

Fracturing False Bricks

Specifications on inspirations
leave me with a frustration that I can’t speak of;
driven deep into the pure edges of snow
with the blood of my innocence revealed,
I’m unsure of what to express,
for I am unsure of how I feel.

My thoughts a swirling tempest,
not allowing a moments rest
Unable to focus,
lost in the daily suicide.
no puff or pill helps me decide
I decry my tasks and put on my masks
and pretend that all is how I wish it to be

And you can’t see my true face,
the one that is shattered,
not that it would matter;
because you would merely, raise your boot to crush me,
to suck the life, out of me, and as it is,
I have trouble breathing,
I’m seething, and pulling at my leash,
and if I ever break the noose,
it will be you who lose.

the comfort of your delusions
and illusions of priority
turn me loose and you will see truth’s light
blinding you with a single beam
showing how things aren’t all that they seem
and the fantasy you live in is destined to end

Copyright ©2007

As read on Caesura

AYU (As Yet Untitled) #9

I cant feel the blows anymore
At my soul they tore but I have withstood the barrage
and have seen through the mirage
I can see the leprosy that is this ’society’
The light has shone brightly and
shown me rightly
So I decide to stand alone

Take your shadows of reality and hide in them
Pretend there is no brutality and let it breed in them
Let it feed on rotting misconception-
Perpetuation of the blatant hypocracy
Fuck this idiocy and your easy way out
Mine eyes will always see because I am a devout follower of the truth
and its light may blind but in that blindness I can see

But you can not see…
You go deep into the fantasy and hold on for dear life
and fall on the knife of indifference
You can watch as your soul drips off the handle and falls to the ground
and the vandals drink it in lustfully
Ignoring your demons may make your ignorance bliss
But this is the great lie in which you still believe
The world of falacy which you helped conceive

I have heard the sound of my soul falling into the black
And I have fought and clawed my way back
I can see the cancer that is this ’society’
Because the light has shone brightly
and shown me rightly
So I decide to stand alone
Mine eyes will always see because I am a devout follower of the truth
And though its light may blind
in that blindness I can see!

Copyright ©2008 Michael Egidio Quigg