Esther Racah Writer & Literary Blogger

Tag: poetic imagery

  • Where Shadows Bloom

    Where Shadows Bloom

    Where shadows bloom and feast I plunge into the pond of sorrow with my eyes full of tears and my heart emptied by the storm of oblivion.

    The impetuous wind that had welcomed me earlier became a gentle breeze, stroking the night flowers and leaving a trail of night scent.

    In vain, I attempted to reach the stars, but the only thing that remained in my hands was a rag from one of my dresses as a memento of what I was but not anymore.

    The night has passed as quickly as the flow of a raging river that sweeps away its banks. My heart couldn’t hear its own heartbeat as if it were in a chest in the deepest abyss of the ocean.

    Where shadows bloom and celebrate my defeat like in an endless chess game, I obeyed my fatal fortune, which purposely forgot to grant me even the tiniest wish.

    The cage of my memories reappeared, holding my desires as captives in its golden entanglement, sparkling bright beneath the full moon, whose light lit the night like blazing butterflies.

    The glimmering butterflies enflamed each flower of the enchanted forest, which glowed like a treasure chest filled with precious gems.

    All of a sudden, I shirked the anguishes that had haunted my heart like ubiquitous phantoms, and I lost all my caution, embracing the unknown darkness.

    As I wandered farther into the darkness, I could hear the tumultuous waters of the river, which carried away the last fragments of my forsaken sorrow.

    The blooming shadows had become my loyal guides in my trembling fate, no longer my fears. Secretly sealed portals were locking the relics of my lost dreams.

    The gloomy clouds kept me from glancing at the stars, hiding them beneath their celestial veil.
    At last, I remained in my lonely quietude, not waiting for anything to happen, not even the next sunrise.
    Elisabetta Esther

  • The Shadows Of My Dreams

    The Shadows Of My Dreams

    The shadows of my dreams vanished in the emptiness of the night when silence dared to whisper obstreperous secrets.

    So much I coveted to let my fantasy free and untamed that I was willing to let the night sky overwhelm me with its mysterious beauty and fearlessness.

    An enchanted castle was my invisible dwelling where I could play hide and seek with the stars. At the same time, the silver moonlight shone through the crystal chandelier of my empty house.

    The light hid behind the dark shadows, and everything seemed more blurred and phantasmagorical

    The further my imagination travelled, the greater was the confusion that ruled my heart, and finally I was finding leisure while obscured by magnificent clouds

    It seemed to live in the realm of dreams and illusions with no quest for a destination, and no interest in a time-bound domain of decrees

    Time had fallen into oblivion, and nonsense became wisdom, for I was no longer obliged to follow the restrictions of shallow humans

    I was the ruler, and I allowed myself to surrender to the shadows of my dreams as if I were unaware of any consequences

    A realm made of shadows and dreams had become my cherished abode where I could sense protection and immortality

    No mortal could harm me anymore or spoil my treasured dreams because I had by then become out of their reach

    Could I have endured those ephemeral circumstances? I knew not, since I had chosen to live in obliviousness to immerse myself in the ocean of bliss

    The night was a valley of tranquillity, and the silence encouraged me to overcome my fear of being unsteady

    Unquestionably, unsteadiness had become my inevitability, and the infinity of the night’s darkness welcomed me in its majestic embrace, full of the shadows of dreams.
    Elisabetta Esther

  • Stars And Nightmares

    Stars And Nightmares

    Stars and nightmares alternated in the sky of my imagination
    Unconscious, as I had been captivated by my nocturnal slumber
    In weariness and freedom from anguish and fears
    I felt like I was wandering in an endless labyrinth
    Aimlessly seeking a direction or a sign
    Nevertheless, I couldn’t release myself from that intricate situation
    Although I was not afraid or concerned about my situation
    I longed for tranquillity and stability, but I knew I couldn’t hold them in my fantastical existence
    Now that the only things I could own were stars and nightmares
    Nothing more for the instant I dreamed in

    Stars and nightmares waited for me as loyal custodians of my illusional world
    No distress could arm my resolute desire for infinite nights of impetuous fantasies hidden underneath a pile of regrets and expectations
    Labradorite stones and precious gems with gold and silver wrapped around my arm like tempting ivies
    Since I couldn’t avoid being myself in front of the mirror of life
    I indulged in hiding behind the meadows of avoidance every time I refused to stare at my soul
    Solitude had happened a long time ago when I fled the kingdom of sordid mortals
    For I was a creature of the infinite abyss of darkness

    Stars and nightmares had vanished from my dreams now that I’ve become more sceptical, and no candlestick or magic stone could grab my attention anymore
    Even the sound of thunderstorms didn’t concern me
    In my bizarre life of secrecy and balderdash, everything could have been possible and impossible at the same time
    Because the pendulum of that realm had ceased to function, and no clock was willing to help me in that disorienting wilderness
    In a gleaming darkness made of dreams, nightmares, hope and anguish, I merged with my deceitful daydreams
    In an infinite loop of delight and bliss, despite the dread hiding beneath.
    Elisabetta Esther

  • The Portal Of Oblivion

    The Portal Of Oblivion

    The portal of oblivion stood in the garden of secret desires
    Castaway as I was in the dizziness of the loss and grief
    I strove to grab some earth mixed with mud to feel the emptiness of that desolate place
    Where only ghosts dared to inhabit during the desolate nights of a summer
    Silence was disrupted by the steady wind, bringing some fresh relief to the tired trees
    While the moonlight rays glimmered over the flowerbeds

    No surprise could have overcome my quietness
    Now that I was embracing my golden seclusion
    Outlying the fatuous and polluted world of mortals
    Lost in the mangroves of my worries and thoughts
    After fear had left its imprints everywhere
    Wishing I could leave my past self behind the portal of oblivion once I had traversed it
    I felt like no tragedy could ever happen to me
    Although I was willing to take the risk
    Since I was used to living in the uncertainty

    I fell into a deep slumber, and I dreamed gibberish
    I felt deep inside that I couldn’t have protected myself from my fate
    For everything I was destined to was beyond my imagination
    Like a wanderer without a destination, I couldn’t discern where I really wanted to be because I couldn’t know what I was truly feeling inside my heart
    It was like I came to be an inanimate statue made of ice and crystal

    The more I wanted to know, the more I lost my memories
    In the effort to survive all the storms of life and the wicked tragedies
    I have transformed into a storm myself
    Powerful yet ephemeral like a summer night raindrop
    My heart has turned into a crystal gem, and I couldn’t feel any sensation of frostiness or warmth
    For I was an evanescent creature of that realm of dreams and coveted chimaeras
    Beyond the portal of oblivion.
    Elisabetta Esther

  • Shadows And Blooms

    Shadows And Blooms

    Shadows and blooms disappeared at night in the shape of moonlight
    Faltering the candlelight announced a thrilling night made of lightning and thunder
    For a storm was waiting for me to disclose my secrecy
    Indeed, I had forgotten all my precious dreams locked like charming jewels in a treasure chest
    Alas, time announced that I was late, and I had to renounce my previous intentions
    I got distracted by my studies and books because the dust had covered me up like a heavy blanket
    And here I was, or at least I thought I was
    Since in a fragile existence, everything could have been possible
    Even to be carried by my very own fantasies to the starry sky, an unknown territory to me
    Doubt and fear had me walk down to the cold soil of my mysterious garden with no flowers

    Shadows and blooms reappeared at night whenever I was not expecting them
    Like unexpected guests waiting for my slumber to overwhelm my mind
    In an eternal quest for lost hopes and betrayals, the darkness of the night manifested with its myriad of enchantments
    Castaway on the edge of the firmament like an isolated star
    I kept wandering in surprise and anguish
    Weary and unimpressed
    With the certainty in my heart that keeps whispering deceptions
    When the only treasure I truly coveted was a sugar-coated truth
    In my own chaos
    Where oftentimes I was a stranger to myself
    As if I never knew my intrinsic essence
    Instead, I had become evanescent like a thin cloud disappearing in the night haze

    Far away, I could see the ocean touching the sky with its waves
    It could have been my hallucination
    It could have been my desire
    Shadows and blooms vanished from my sight
    And instead
    I found myself in the desert of loneliness
    Surrounded by the cold gusts of a winter storm, chaperoning me to the abyss of darkness and nightmares.
    Elisabetta Esther

  • The Shadows Of Solitude

    The Shadows Of Solitude

    The shadows of solitude followed me in my endless journey of self-discovery
    No storm or fog could distract my search for the mysteries that my fate dared to hide from my gaze
    Extravagant fantasies appeared as evanescent chimaeras glowing like stars in the darkness of the night
    Ravens and crows gathered around me, whispering arcana secrets to me, as they already possessed the knowledge reserved for immortal spirits
    Even the rain and wind didn’t encounter an effortless manner to rule that kingdom
    Where inky feathers fell all over me while I saw blank mirrors floating like autumn leaves on a pond

    The shadows of solitude guided me in the deepest night in the midst of the misty forest of my dreams
    I followed the trail enlightened by scattered candelabras and poetry rhymes
    My perseverance was unapologetic and I cared only for my own wonder
    Since the day I decided to abandon my bitter memories and leave them in the swamp of my past
    The majestic and fierce vault of a Gothic cathedral hid the vast starry sky, inducing me to listen to the sumptuous melody of an ancient organ
    I felt dizzy as if under a magic spell that had been cast on me by my most hidden desires

    The dimness of my fears vanished immediately as if they never existed and they couldn’t hurt anymore
    So much glistening light I found in the deepest gloominess
    Guided by my untamed heart ready to embrace every unreachable mirage
    I followed the phantasmic echoes of the nocturnal clouds staring at me in my intricate voyage without a specific destination
    Since the day I had willingly lost myself within the mist of my own dreams
    I was no longer startled by my limits because I decided to become infinite and potent like a lone glistening luminary
    Belonging to eternity
    Perfect in my frailties.
    Elisabetta Esther

  • The Night Lies Over Me

    The Night Lies Over Me

    The night lies over me like an immense quilted blanket of stars and gloomy clouds
    Sweet are the whispers of my dreams that welcome me into their magical alcove
    Lost in the depths of my imagination
    I continue to wander in the night
    Unaware of my fate, I am blindfolded on my uncertain path
    Letting the disquiet burn in my heart as if I were a candle in a storm
    I wait for the thorns to turn into feathers in my secret garden of mystery
    Everything is concealed from my eyes
    And I wake up in the haze and turmoil
    In front of me only emptiness and the scent of fear
    How long could I have fed myself on the illusion of my dreams?
    I know not as long as the clouds obscured the stars
    I covet fondly the freedom of birds lingering in the firmament
    I struggle intensely to catch a glimpse of withered flowers and evanescent butterflies
    And the night lies over me again like a layered shroud
    Quietly the wind whispers legends and enchantments
    Taking me into the fantastic realm of chimaeras and the overworld
    Where no mortal soul could be conceived
    Since only fabulous creatures inhabit my fantasy
    Loneliness surrounds me and hushes my eagerness to lose myself easily in the maze of foolishness
    I sense my dreams as the only reality where I am my tangible self
    An ocean filled with delusions and empty shells attempts to swallow my awareness
    The exquisite scent of roses and magnolias cannot rescue me any longer
    Since the oblivion of the night’s desires takes hold of me
    It was too late for me to redeem my heart
    In the solitude of the dusk
    When everything seemed so painfully calm
    Alas, could I finally find myself in the lost abyss of my ineptitude?
    I sigh and dream
    No further wisdom enlightens my vision
    Now that the night lies over me.
    Elisabetta Esther

  • The Kingdom Of Paradoxes And Absurdities

    The Kingdom Of Paradoxes And Absurdities

    The kingdom of paradoxes and absurdities was the place where bullying and arrogance reigned supreme, sovereign over vulgarity and stupidity. They wallpapered the walls of every place that held court in such a realm.

    Anything that could be imagined was both unreal and real at the same time. It could exist or not exist. Absurdity, however, was the master of the place. Thus, everything my logic deemed possible was tangible and predictable. In truth, it could neither take place nor be actualised in such sovereignty.

    I cannot say that I was dreaming, nor can I say that I was awake. In a state of shock and surrender of my ego, I could no longer even discern whether I was daydreaming or hallucinating. All I could say was what my sensations and perceptions made me feel in every part of my soul and heart, in every part of my body.

    Although I had firmly decided not to bend to the will of others, not to bow down or worship the conventions imposed on me persistently, I fell into a deadly trap—a kind of imprisonment, a state of captivity from which I could not free myself. Invisible chains that I felt and perceived in my body and heart held dominion over my life and my way of thinking.

    My jewellery box had been plundered. All my secrets had been revealed by indiscreet tongues. And my protection had vanished. It was as if I had become a defenceless flower in the midst of a threatening desert.

    I had to say goodbye to my version of myself, which was no longer alive. I had to say goodbye to all those visions that had deceived me falsely, when my naivety clouded my sight.

    In the kingdom of paradoxes and absurdities, I had to succumb and suffer. I had nowhere else to go. And the more I tried to escape, the more it seemed that this strange land expanded beneath my feet, preventing me from crossing its high and menacing walls. And what could the sky do but watch me, almost mocking me in an indifferent and cynical manner.
    Elisabetta

  • The Well Of Phantom Wishes

    The Well Of Phantom Wishes

    The well of phantom wishes
    Was the well of my disappointments
    Of all those illusions
    That had deceived me
    In a malevolent way
    With their allure
    And their way of
    Misleading me
    With fake smiles and phrases
    Like lines from a script
    But in truth, it was all fake
    Every single thing
    And every
    One I had known, glimpsed
    Were nothing but
    Delusional
    Realities
    Beneath
    A deception
    A cruel deception
    That dragged me down
    Into that well
    So deep and so dark
    That I could not glimpse
    Any
    Vision
    Any hope

    My tears were of no use, nor was my despair.
    My broken heart had shattered, like a crystal or stone ornament,
    its translucence and splendour reduced to dust and fragments,
    soiled by the cold ground, soaked in mud and decadent filth.
    That beauty I had once cherished within me
    had turned into a twisted transfiguration of my own reflection.

    What remained in my hands was dust and decay.
    I closed my eyes, and silence shrouded my thoughts,
    making them vague and fleeting like dark shadows
    that moved around me but I could never reach.

    One of my silver bracelets that shone like stars broke,
    and through its fractures, you could read my life’s illness,
    My malaise of living, my melancholic soul
    that had no peace and could find no place of salvation,
    lost among the clouds that darkened my mind.

    The pain was raining down on me like one of those cold and biting winter rains.
    Almost as if it wanted to scratch me and leave marks like painful and distressing memories that followed me wherever I went at any time.

    My sighs and sobs were mystified by that funeral silence of the endless night which had neither beginning nor end, and which wrapped me in its dark and misty cloak, almost to intoxicate me with its gloom and make me forget my infinite pain.
    Elisabetta

  • The Arcane Forest

    The Arcane Forest

    The arcane forest was my place of refuge. It oozed with enchantments, and the trees did not possess a name. It was a place where I became invisible and mortal while still retaining my physical form.

    Softly, the wind whispered to me its hidden secrets, but I could not grasp their meaning. Such was my daze.

    The large clouds were gathering under a grey tone, and all the shades of white contrasted with the blue of the sky. The sound of the streams was like a melody which, however, had a gloomy and at times sinister sound. As if it reflected the image of my heart.

    Lost in my anguish and obsessive thoughts, I was seeking direction in that vast green and dark expanse, although the sun showed its light from time to time. I was lost in the chaos, in the noises that at times followed me relentlessly and at other times vanished into nothingness.

    The trees seemed to move, at times, and at other times they seemed almost dead, shrivelled, as if without vital infamy. But the mystery of that place was unusual and unexplainable. It seemed like a place of my imagination, which did not exist at all in tangible reality.

    In my wandering, it seemed that my shadow no longer followed me, but rather that other shadows not belonging to me had followed my path, as if curious about what I intended to do or where I was going. I was walking without direction and without any goal of finding myself or of finding the right destination.

    It was as if those shadows sighed, or wanted to whisper something to me — hidden truths, sealed secrets, confessions too indecent to be revealed to human ears, or too regal to deserve a particular listening. The trees seemed to encircle an arcane mark, or what seemed like the mark of death, or of the cavern, or the portal through which one might enter another world, a world not reserved for mortals and common souls.

    The arcane forest was my place of solitude alone, but also the place to which I truly belonged. No longer being part of the earthly world, of the world of mortals, of that realm I had tried to possess and understand, but which I then refused to belong to.
    Elisabetta

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