It is smooth and silky.
It is sweet as summer wine.
After indulging you feel guilty.
It can actually blow your mind.
Her dress of many colors flying.
Songs without words abound.
She sang it all without lying.
You saw her twirl round & round.
It came within, a shock to your soul.
It took over your very being.
You ran with nowhere to go.
You could see without feeling.
Then, you were back. Little had changed.
You understood it all now.
You could hear it all without sound.
You were extensile, omnipresent, Wow!!
It was raising up from all around.
You had dared to indulge & quench.
Now, you will never be the same.
The gates of hell have budged an inch.—–R. W. Johnson—–(2022)
This poem paints a vivid, surreal experience that dances between pleasure and guilt, reality and the supernatural. It conveys a powerful, almost otherworldly journey, where indulgence leads to an awakening but also a sense of crossing a threshold that can’t be uncrossed. The imagery of colors, soundless songs, and the idea of understanding without feeling create a dreamlike atmosphere. The final lines suggest a profound change as if the indulgence has opened up a new realm of possibilities, yet with a hint of danger or consequence.
This was actually a description of what an LSD user might experience when he was ‘day tripping.’ Your summary of the final lines of the poem were excellent. It really described the point I was trying to get across. —–R. W. Johnson