Analysis of An Unseen Enemy Within



Never in a million years,
would I have thought,
that I would have been smitten.
Reduced from a man,
that once, had the will-power and strength
of Goliath,
to that, as weak as a kitten.

Vulnerable to emotional pain.
Life is not what it used to be
and sometimes is too much,
by irregularities and strain.

Brought about by a very bad
experience,
involving death and loss,
I now suffer from day to
day.
A debilitating illness,
that, has its own way.

Each and every day,
I am fighting this.
Exhausted from mental
torture,
a battle in my head and
even though I try to sleep
and shut it out,
the battle continues in bed.

My personality has changed
and through that,
I have lost a great deal,
part of my life, to include
a wife.
I am aware, although a blur,
that I have attempted to take
my own life by various means
and on the one occasion,
I succeeded to die,
I was resuscitated,
waking up in hospital,
with IV lines and heart machine,
attached.
The medics were not allowing me
To go from this world of mine or
to pass away,
despite being successful,
in my try.

Suicidal ideation, co-morbid thoughts,
depression, dysthymia, borderline
personality disorder,
to list but a few,
is what I am labelled with,
stuck with for life and all
because of an incident,
that was so horrendous,
in causing my pain and strife.

Of course, I am not alone with
this syndrome.
There are countless others,
suffering in the same way,
for which I feel for and they are
not far from my home.

No amount of drugs, psychology
or psycho-education,
can ever rid this or erase the memories
from the brain.
What support and help there is,
can only dampen down the emotions,
a balancing act to keeping sane.

The flashbacks keep coming.
The tears keep rolling down
my cheeks,
sometimes for days,
sometimes for weeks.

The diagnosis, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD).
I am in the firm grip of this and not to under-
estimate.
The power it has within the brain of oneself,
Is complex and a complicated
State.

The prognosis, is anyone's guess.
There are those that do not understand
or do not know,
the magnitude of suffering.
Only those that suffer this illness, know
that they are dealing with an unseen enemy
within !!


Scheme XABXXXB CDXC XXXEFGF FXHIXXXX XXXXJIXXBKXHXXDXFHK XXIELXXGJ LMXFXM DBXCXXC NXOXO IAIXXXX XXPNPDX
Poetic Form
Metre 1000101 1111 1111110 01101 111011001 1010 11111010 1000101001 11111111 001111 100010001 10110101 0100 010101 1110111 1 0010010 11111 101001 11101 010110 10 0100110 1011111 0111 01001001 1010011 011 111011 1111101 01 1101101 11101011 11111001 0101010 101011 110100 101010 1110101 01 010010101 11111111 1101 0110010 011 0100101101 010110 0100010 11101 1111101 111101 0111100 11110 0101101 11111011 11 111010 1000011 11111011 11111 101110100 110010 110111010100 101 1010111 1101010010 010011101 01110 011101 11 0111 0111 001010101010 1 1100111101110 100 01011010111 11000100 1 00101101 11111101 1111 0101100 1011101101 111101101100 01
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 2,098
Words 395
Sentences 24
Stanzas 11
Stanza Lengths 7, 4, 7, 8, 19, 9, 6, 7, 5, 7, 7
Lines Amount 86
Letters per line (avg) 20
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 155
Words per stanza (avg) 36
Font size:
 

Submitted by victor_j on October 12, 2012

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:58 min read
9

Victor Gatenby

My name is Victor John Gatenby, born in 1958 and native of North Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom. I am a researcher of genealogy and started to write poetry in 2002, after retiring from public service. Having a creative and compassionate mind, for helping people, that is in my scope to do, I find that by writing poetry, not only expresses my life thoughts, but I feel, gives meaning and inspiration to others. Whether it be fictional or based on fact, the poetry I write will always be read differently and have a differing meaning from one person to the next. My aim is to give a pleasure to the reader without the poetry being too complex or deep, so as not to be understood or enjoyed. Much of my poetry is based upon life events and perceptions. I find that works well and I can draw upon my own experiences, to put into poetry, a literary art form.Those that read my poetry, I hope gain something from it and enjoy reading the same. At the same time, I am committed to contributing to Poetry.com and it's community, by reading the work of other's and appropriately recording constructive criticism and rating work, without prejudice. I expect my work to be critiqued also with respect and common sense. I have a zero tolerant attitude towards any inappropriate work, words, remarks etc.V J Gatenby (Author) more…

All Victor Gatenby poems | Victor Gatenby Books

0 fans

Discuss this Victor Gatenby poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "An Unseen Enemy Within" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/65750/an-unseen-enemy-within>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    June 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    18
    days
    17
    hours
    45
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Shall I compare thee to a summer's _______?
    A day
    B ray
    C dream
    D night