The Visitor of Bad Days
Ah, faithful companion,
You, yes you, sly spirit,
How long have we known each other?
How long have we walked side by side?
Tell me, faithful companion,
My memory falters,
Time has not spared me—
Tell me, how long have you been here?
My companion, my companion,
In your arms, you gently hold me,
Not to comfort me… but to suffocate me.
Haven’t you had enough of haunting me?
Dear companion,
You disappear when all is well,
When peace reigns within my heart,
When joy and fleeting vanities come to visit.
Oh companion,
Why are you only here on my darkest nights,
When my conscience eats away at me,
And my dreams begin to feel like lies?
Why, dear companion?
Sometimes, I feel you drifting away,
My heart suddenly grows lighter…
Then you return, once more, like a trail of snow.
You, dear companion,
Do you not wish me happiness?
Am I your best customer? Your soulmate?
A role I painfully refuse.
So, companion,
Why won’t you understand?
Why do you keep coming back,
Never listening to me?
You, my frustration,
Companion through so many seasons,
Can’t you feel my weariness?
Little by little, my heart breaks free from your servitude.
🪞 Mirror Question
Who is the “faithful companion” that tends to visit you on your bad days?
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With Clarity,
Odel A.
The Mirror Room
Odel, I really like the way you make this “companion” feel almost familiar, something we know so well that we recognise its arrival before we necessarily understand why it's there.
There is something particularly interesting in calling it faithful, when actually it only seems to visit when we're at our most vulnerable. A fair-weather friend in reverse, perhaps.
And I love that the ending doesn't suggest the companion has disappeared. Instead, little by little, its hold is changing.
A lovely poem, Odel.
You captured this struggle in such a beautiful way 💙