My Sweet Darkness is a unique poetry collection that explores themes of trauma, heartbreak, loss, love, healing, self-love, personal transformation, and self-esteem. Sometimes transgressive, sometimes playful, and at times philosophical, these deeply personal poems offer companionship to those going through dark phases of their lives. With its lyrical style, "My Sweet Darkness" invites readers to embrace the shadows within, offering solace in the beauty of the night and the depth of the human soul. With a voice that echoes in the corridors of the heart, these poems guide you through the labyrinth of your darkest emotions, encouraging you to find strength in vulnerability and light in the midst of your own... sweet darkness.
My Dark Muse
Persephone phones this recluse
Whose heavy heart drums the blues
"What shade of black do you choose?"
Lady death intones...once my muse
From my eyes rip-tides ooze
The tourniquet my neck's masseuse
A toxic lover's possessive noose
Is it a hickey or a bruise?
Or both...either way I lose
Cousin of sleep induced
My gemini brain dies in twos
Consciousness a flickering fuse
Then fade to black, silently diffuse
From Sheep to Storm
There is time for everything under the Sun
A time for for mercy, a time when there's none
When thine anger rises from the deep
When they take you for a harmless sheep
Mercy is a virtue, a balm for wounds
Yet, in the depths, vengeance looms
Anger, a tempest from the soul's abyss
A silent scream to a savage hiss
Misjudged as a lamb, a harmless guise
Yet within, a seething a tempest lies
No words articulate the soul's despair
Only echoes of silence in the stagnant air
I burn you up in mental hell
And make pearls from your blackened shell
From ashes of strife, strength compels...
Gems of wisdom, my pen to tell
Paranormal Pen
These lethargic thoughts I exercise
By writing these words to exorcise
Their writhing scraping against my mind
Ready to blow like a land mine
With such strokes as an artist’s brushstroke
Ink soaks paper, capturing ideas as smoke
I compose poetic prose in a surrealist melody
Enraptured in the persistence of memory
They say the pen is mightier than swords
Those sentiments I confirm as true words
For while I brandish mine threateningly aloft
A bridge forms in my mind, daring me across
A muse appears hither to take me hence
Into amaranthine lands of magnificence
Where I continue to indulge my raging urge
Weaving alpha-rhythms into words
Lest the brain waves salute in vain
The pen moves frantic, spilling thoughts again
Crazed mechanism by which I remain sane
Expressing ecstasy and expunging pain
As my grip sinks into its solid surface
My art becomes a fiery furnace
Imbued with spirit to craft in earnest
Pushing boundaries far, the furthest
It begins...
Metamorphosing substance from naught
Composing passion from wrath
Incarnating thoughts into form
Causing ideas from a vacuum to be born
Actualizing figments and fallacies
Curing malaise and maladies
Forging forthright fate and fantasy
Enslaving phrases in raving rhapsody
In deep trance states I dip and delve
At night-time mostly after twelve
My pen voyages logic land
As though I held a magic wand
Resonating with my spirit’s hum
Its steely point swings like a pendulum
Oscillating at the speed of light
Time freezes cold in heat of night
The muse paves the way for deep hypnosis
Colorful mental states where I ingest gnosis
And sync with vibrations of poets long gone…
In the flesh, but their thought-forms live on
My paranormal pen is like a deity
Which laws of this world obey in piety
For coaxed by my will to make
Activates its omnipotence for my sake
About The Author
Alceste Raider is a poet born in Jamaica to a British father and a Jamaican mother. Raised by her grandmother in Jamaica, Alceste's childhood was marked by hardship and loss. At Catholic school, she tragically lost her best friend in a car accident—a loss that deeply affected her. Shortly after the accident, Alceste had a peculiar dream where her friend appeared, communicating through tears that turned into ink. This dream became a pivotal moment in Alceste's life, inspiring her to channel her pain into poetry, with her departed friend as her muse.
Alceste emigrated to Britain at the age of fifteen, facing the challenges of integrating into a foreign society. Her social awkwardness and introverted nature made the transition difficult, and a strained relationship with her father only added to her discomfort. The death of her beloved grandmother further compounded her grief, pushing her deeper into writing as a means of coping. A brilliant child, Alceste consistently excelled academically, earning numerous awards. Despite her love for literature and writing, she pursued a bachelor's degree in engineering—a discipline she had no passion for—due to familial pressure. After years of working in engineering and teaching, she finally left these fields to focus on her true calling: poetry.
Alceste is a recovering alcoholic, a struggle that stemmed from depression, for which she has sought therapy. Now living in the UK, she spends her days writing, tutoring, reading, and playing video games. Her companions are her pet cat, Grace—named after her late grandmother—and her dog, Kimber. As a Gemini, Alceste embodies a duality of resilience and vulnerability, using her poetic voice to navigate the complexities of her life experiences.
My Sweet Darkness is available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited
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