Total delusion

A poem on mental health, insanity and delusions

Total Delusion

By Shawn P Cassidy

He stands before the mirror,

but the mirror births no face''

only a trembling outline

in a hollowed-out space.

Rejection coils around him

like a crown forged in dusk,

a prophecy whispered

in a language of rust.

He kneels before a beauty

made of smoke and design,

a phantom queen

who rewrites his mind.

Hypnotized by the beast

that lives behind his eyes,

he reaches for words

but they fracture into lies.

Beauty’s mystique is a labyrinth of night,

a ritual of shadows

that devours his light.

Dreams flicker like embers

in a collapsing shrine,

truth breaks through

in a scream without spine.

His voice is a relic

the darkness keeps,

a hymn of the secrets

he buries deep.

Sobriety of sin''

a path paved in bone,

salvation''

a doorway that never becomes known.

Tempted by madness

with no absolution,

he sinks once more

into total delusion.

© 2026 Shawn P. Cassidy. All rights reserved