James Freel Stevenson

James Freel Stevenson Poems

The Best Poem Of James Freel Stevenson

Nigrum Taurus

Nigrum Taurus

Darkness then pain
Emerging from universal sleep again
Nigrum Taurus angrily appears
To greet the current version of me.

Startled confusion flight and fear
My existence pitiful as it was
Powerless against Nigrum Taurus
I defeat him with my mind
To claim the first victory.

Disease gnaws at my spine
No air fills my lungs
My head, pain wracked
Lays heavy upon my neck
A time to live, not die.

Retching into life with puny form
Time passed in the torturous darkened reign
Fragmented light, broken as my body
Spewing forth by alchemy
A poor pathetic version of life
But life just the same.

No great fanfare nor Royal Household
A lesser life hard to design
These darkest of days unfold before me
My mind the solo asset to behold.

Again I rise, and rise again
Weary at the start of life
No strength as many men find
I gaze upon Nigrum Taurus
Sensing each other's fear of my mind.

Have at me then, I goad in silent thought
As he breaks my outer defenses
Ye shall not impede upon my will
For I hold the key to my survival.

Sanity tempts beyond my grasp
I plead for coherence, understanding even,
But still I'm locked behind the glass
A life without reason.

Perhaps Nigrum Taurus twists my brain
Engaging it in battle thus
Or perhaps God in his wisdom
Left me incomplete, near insane.

From behind the glass a world I behold
Believing it different or better
Unable to change my outward reflection
I am granted a life less bold.

‘Stay off the rails' echoes within my head
The King of ‘out there' cried
My fragile soft boned legs, tired
Attempting journeys to school and pride.

In God's grace and favour still
Life and time were granted me
To wander through eternity
Bereft of reason I can see, I wander on
It is his will.

Nigrum Taurus rages on at my head
My mind stronger for his presence
I continue with this version of me
Unaware what lies ahead.

The king's message though distorted, lasts
Carried by tides of thought
My life a delusion of who I am
Parting company with myself decide
Avoiding the rails has some validity.

Not for me the narrow and straight
Learning? Mere experience gathered
Books to write, not read, my fate
My mind yet strong, not withered.

Life pursued off the rails, strange imaginings
Head to head with Nigrum Taurus
Raging at the world at large
We continue to heed the King.

James Freel Stevenson Comments