Compulse-Obsess Poem by Richard Weissman

Monotoned processions chant bleak formaldehyde dirges
- Kindling in the pyre of balance, of harmony,
Nothing, thinking nothing, save sweet impassioned,
perfume-scented, gut-wrenching desire for sensual essence
All - family, friends, vocation, God - All, All else fades to oblivion,
- Kindling for the pyre,
Turn to writing - Perfectionistic, bleary-eyed, sleepless creativity,
Insanity, in the name of artistry, in the dream of immortality,
All, All else fades to oblivion,
- Kindling for the pyre,
Now God - Fearful of faithlessness, pray salvation, pray grace, pray service, everlasting relentless, uncompromising service, selfless, poverty-seeding service,
Obsessed, in the quest for divine piety, for ever-elusive enlightened liberation -
All, All else fades to oblivion,
- Kindling for the pyre.

- From "Voices of the Dark" (1991)