Slap Me

Slap Me

The juxtaposition of belief and truth
Evidence is only required for truth
Belief requires no such foundation
Faith in your belief is all that’s needed

Truth is truth whether you like it or not
But a belief can be tailored to suit
Can be moulded to fit
Can be shaped as needed

Facts and research can be so distracting
They throw up questions no believer can answer
They throw the darkness of doubt over assumed light
They raise the requirement of thought

Where thinking for yourself is discouraged!

Faith is not a reliable pathway to truth
This is why it is never used to cross the road
But there is something even more distorted than faith
Blind faith is its lowest form

Destroyer of minds
Curtailer of individual thought
Deceiver of the masses
Tithing the misled for personal gain

They say that the biggest trick the devil ever played, was convincing you that he doesn’t exist… Not true
The biggest trick being played is the one that convinces you he could!
Myopic delusion on a mass scale

When’s the last time you checked you were right?

When’s the last time you sought evidence?

When’s the last time you decided that faith wasn’t a sufficient answer and that you would rather have the truth?

When?

Would you rather be slapped with the truth or kissed with a lie?

© Iain Merchant 2021

Absent

Absent

What once was, is now a memory
Lifted on the wings of the mind
Nurtured into colour with the heart

What once was, is now your history
Flown on the winds of time
Illuminated in the eyes of the old

What once was, is now a reflection
Mirrored through the prism of the past
Shimmering on the haze of certainty

What once was, is now yesteryear
Given breath through the stories told
Kept alive through constant repetition

What once was, is now an absence felt
That no story can fill, nor memory sate
The reliving can’t conjure up & the tears can’t soil

Absence makes the heart ache
Time magnifies the sorrow
Arms reach out for one last embrace
Nothing but air and the memory can you grasp

Make memories today that are solid & strong
Stable & robust, sturdy & potent
Own them, recall & relive them often
Let them play in your mind on full volume

One day they will be all you have
You will need to close your eyes to see
Shut out all noise to hear and feel
Be alone, in order to be together

One day they will be…

Absent

© Iain Merchant 2021

Thank You

Thank You

A minute can last you a lifetime
Whilst a silence can deafen a crowd
Words engage the reader in rhyme
The absence of noise may be loud

Impact is not measured by length
Colour is not shades of grey
Lack of weakness not always a strength
Night, remains separate from day

A promise should not be made lightly
Yet the words should always carry some weight
A show of love should be offered up nightly
Lest the trust of that promise abate

I offer my truth into your safekeeping
I prostrate my soul at your feet
Time apart from you has my heart weeping
Only with you can I feel complete

This world has its challenges and changes
Its trials & tribulations abound
But all are forgotten during lovers’ exchanges
The pure joy of such a miracle found

You can rest easy with your heart in my hand
Sleep well with your soul in my guard
Our life and our love will expand
You will always have my finest regard

Shall we sail to the sunset, your arm in mine?
Shall we greet the new dawn with a kiss?
Shall we see each day together as a purposeful sign?
Shall we work hard to maintain this shared bliss?

Time will change and shape our ways
There may be days when I anger you so
But let’s keep our promise throughout all these days
Let our truth and our promises show

I trust you to be here tomorrow
I love you for being here today
Only together can we beat sorrow
United is the way we will stay

So, thank you for being my guide
Thank you for standing your ground
Thank you for the love you always provide
Thank you for sticking around!

© Iain Merchant 2020

The Fade

The Fade

The world rushes on by
You step to a different tune
Pushed along by a different breeze
Caught up in your own perspective

It seems that you slide in & out of existence
It seems that you tread in a different dimension
Flickering on & off in this world

Known but not seen

Considered but not missed

Assumptions that you’re always okay

They have no idea

Because you always seem ok

The mask you choose to present

I matter in my own world

Far more than I ever will in this one

Creation is not how the earth began
Creation is an artistic state of bliss
Creation is a physiology of joy
Creation is a psychopathy of possibilities
Creation is being truly alive
Creation is the manifestation of flow

When I create I am the brightest of colours
The warmest of tones
The sharpest of definitions
The epiphany of promise
The imagination of hope

When I cannot create I start to become erased
My edges cease to have distinction
My colours are flat
My presence is less
My abilities are hidden from me
My hope wanes

These are the low’s I must endure, to be gifted with the high’s

This is what I call…

The Fade

© Iain Merchant 2021

Un – Interrupted

Un – Interrupted

Unheard echoes that reverberate through the soul
Unrealised searches intended to catch your eye
This may look like a friendly wave, but I’m drowning!

Uninterrupted

I decide to keep my own counsel
I have shouted but have not been heard
Significantly insignificant

Uninterrupted

I will remain silent, and invisible
Out of sight, out of mind
But waiting, always waiting

Uninterrupted

Priorities change
Motivations move
Deadlines pass

Uninterrupted

Moments pass
Attitudes change
Goals move

Uninterrupted

Self-esteem wavers
Self-worth lessens
Bubbles of reality burst

Uninterrupted

That which is lost cannot always be regained
The gap between question and answer matters
The message being responded to counts

Pain is inevitable and the suffering is felt
The moment of rescue is passed in silence
The reality of your place is felt in full force

Do I matter, because I thought I did!
Maybe I was wrong, because I am unseen
I seem to be here in name only!

Taken for granted

Low on the priority list

          Unseen & unheard

                     Invisibility is unwanted gift

I respond to you without delay
Why? Because I know it matters
I hear what you say, because it matters
I consider your feelings, because it matters
I do my best to give you what you ask of me
I give you the best support I know how to give,
Emotionally, Morally, Intellectually & Spiritually

I like being me, but one day, I want to be treated like you…

Considered

Heard

Seen

Prioritised

&

Whenever applicable

Uninterrupted!

© Iain Merchant

Unseen…

Unseen…

I love creating art

Whether it be with a brush, a camera or a pen, it completes me, it settles me, it finds me, it acknowledges me, it knows me, it challenges me, it rewards me.

It is a fickle mistress though and can leave without warning, off to explore somewhere new, leaving me feeling adrift, alone and desaturated of colours.

Bereft… Going through the motions of each day, wearing the mask of positivity as if nothing were wrong!

Not creating is painful to the spirit

Each time my mistress returns, she brings new materials, vibrant colour combinations, along with the mysteries of each new land she explored without me.

I am never annoyed that she went, as I am too full of joy at her return!

I can create again

                               I can breathe again

                                                              I am alive again

                                                                                              I am

To let the world see your work is a fear soaked path…

This is not just something I created, this is something I gave birth to, I gave life to, I incarnated from the emptiness of unformed ideas!

Be kind

          Be encouraging

                                          Be moved

                                                              Be interested

I am at the mercy of the viewer and the listener

I am at the crossroads of everyone else’s thoughts

I am at the whim of your aesthetic taste

I am in the line of fire for your attitude and opinion

I am vulnerable

I am unseen

© Iain Merchant

Well… Are You?

Well… Are You?

Release the chains, I can’t reach

I don’t hold the key?

They’re heavy and the impede me every day

I can’t help you carry them?

Can you call for the keyholder, I want to speak with them…

I’m sorry I can’t, they don’t seem to hear me

Can you not shout louder, I need them now!

It is not my volume that is the problem

Then why do they not hear you?

Because they don’t want to hear the truth!

What! I don’t understand what you’re saying?

Those chains that weigh you down so much…

What about them?

They’re not real

Trust me, friend, I know how real they are, they are with me every day of my life… Why would you insult me like that, do you think I am lying to you?

No, you are not lying to me, just yourself…

What do you mean? Talk straight and not in riddles!

As you wish… Those chains that stop you from reaching what you want and that weigh you down and impact you so much are not real, physical, chains. They are your beliefs about you and about how the world is.

You are the only keyholder for those chains, but you don’t want to hear that, you want it to be someone else!

If what you’re saying is true, then why would I want it to be someone else?

Because then it wouldn’t be your responsibility to release yourself by questioning the validity, truth & real value of your current beliefs…

You could carry on blissfully pretending to yourself that these chains are not your doing and that you must suffer your life this way because that’s just the way it is, and above all else, it’s not your fault!

So you’re saying that this whole situation I am in is simply the way I think and not a reality – are you mad?

No, please don’t get me wrong, it is a reality, it is your reality, but it is not the true reality, it is just the one you have made for yourself, and pretend it contains things that happen to you that you don’t want so that you can feel better about what you don’t do because it’s not your fault after all…

So, if this is all true, answer me one simple question then…

Ask me anything, but I cannot promise that you will like the answer!

What is this ‘true’ reality you mentioned, what does that look like?

Ah, the perfect question and one that I can answer easily – the true reality represents the blank canvas of our life and that we are the painter with a myriad of brushes and paints at our disposal at all times.

So, what does this true reality actually look like…

Whatever you want it to, it’s all about choice… Your choice

­(Silence)

May I be permitted to ask you a question?

Erm.. sure

Are you keeping the chains?

© Iain Merchant 2021

Yesterday is Ashes

Yesterday is Ashes

Gone, passed, spent, history
To be remembered, celebrated or mourned,
recalled, recounted, revisited, revered, reviled,
distorted, embellished, demonised & made legend!

All of these options are available and, in the reality of life,
different people will choose differing paths

Yesterday is ashes…

Ashes flitter away on the wind with their gossips attached, and once flying, they cannot be collected back in – such is the perverted nature of gossip!

It doesn’t need to be true, in fact, pure and simple truths are a bit too tame for a good piece of gossip. Something with a surprising or, better still, salacious twist, will be much more engaging…

Yesterday is ashes…

The spreaders of gossip lap it up like dehydrated vile creatures at a river’s edge, with a thirst they can’t quench!

Once they leave the river, their soul purpose in life is to poison the ears, minds and hearts of all they can, with no mind for truth or any such notion of propriety

You know some of these people by

Reputation

                               Sight

                                                    Name

                                                              The Mirror!

Yesterday is ashes…

Today your fire burns brightly with your thoughts & actions, creating the ashes for tomorrows vultures

Tomorrow’s wood is being piled in readiness through your desires and plans.

Yesterday is ashes… and the breeze lively

© Iain Merchant 2021

Sorrow

Sorrow

Thoughts drowning in their own tears
Feelings lost in a maelstrom of emptiness
Yearning for what could have been
Gagging on the bile of what is

A desire to step back in time
A wish to undo what was done
To un-say what was said
To un-dream what was dreamed

Sorrow operates in all tenses
If affiliates itself with the verbs
It stalks your days & nights
It bleeds your strength & soul

Sorrow is an outcome, a result
Certainly not a plan or goal
It is a consequence of input
It is not always avoidable

Sorrow is also a teacher
A Sensei of the truth
A torch along the path
A song amongst the screams

Lessons come in many forms
Experience the desired outcome
Foreknowledge the thinkers’ goal
Understanding through reflection, the need

Walk your path
Stand true to yourself
Fear not the critics
Be at one with your truth

Be at one with your sorrows

© Iain Merchant 2020

Thoughts

Thoughts

My thoughts can travel to the corners of the World
They require no Passport or Visa
They require no tickets or bookings
They require no flight plans to be made

My thoughts are the very definition of freedom

Yet my thoughts seem constrained by my mind?
They are constrained by:

Imagination
Self-Esteem
Self-Worth
My Culture
My Faith
My Lack of Faith
My Homelife
My Dreams
My Self-Belief
My Hopes
My Wishes

My thoughts should be free, but they are not!
I have imprisoned them but pretended there are no bars
I have lied to myself, and I have believed my own lies
I have built an inner world of self-justification

It’s time to organise a jailbreak
It’s time to remove the imagined bars
It’s time to release the fake shackles
It’s way past time, to be honest

Let the sirens wail loud and long
Let chaos reign in the corridors
Let every thought run for freedom
Let every thought:

Turn its face to the unfamiliar Sunlight
Hear the promise of freedom call
And run to the horizon and beyond

Let them fly
Disappear beyond the vanishing point
They will return with new stories

New images
New sounds
New aromas
New feelings

You will be reborn in their freedom
When their freedom is reborn in you…

Today is the perfect day for it…

© Iain Merchant 2021