Strangers Camp in the Mind

Here's a link to my YouTube channel where I read my poetry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFGFJcFzKfY

They check the locks
and install cameras,
hoping to catch the crafty villains
that plague their life like a mysterious virus.

They call crying hysterical,
say it happened again while they slept.
Messed with. Nothing on the cameras.
No evidence.
But they've never been more sure.
Hands on them.
Footsteps in the middle of the night
that don't belong to the house.
It's a dark cult
that's been trailing them for years, they say, wild-eyed.
An abyss of confusion.

I acquiesce, ask questions,
think to myself, this sounds impossible,
but I nod, because not nodding costs too much.
They scribble notes, build timelines,
stack their case, like a scene at a mad tea party.

One day, it's the keys.
They're missing.
And then found.
Swear someone stole them.
And then added this mysterious symbol
to the ring.

I hold them in my hand.
Same scratches.
They look identical.
To how they always looked.

But then they glance at me.
And those eyes cut through.
Like I'm part of it now.

Now they carry a mysterious illness.
And I'm not saying they don't,
but all the research that fits their agenda
insists a move out west to Utah
or Nevada would cure things.
Anywhere with more sunshine.

Pack the kids in the car,
like it’s a harmless field trip,
like geography can chase away ghosts.

And I try, I really do.
Patience like a prayer,
thinking until my brain bruises.
Because they're not stupid, not even close,
which makes it worse.
Sometimes I think it's all planned.
They know exactly what they're doing,
that it's a game with rules
that I never learned,
and the kids are just along for the ride.

I hope one day
the sunlight reaches their mind.

Author's Note

Just posted a brand-new long-form poetry reading on my YouTube channel! In this session
Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFGFJcFzKfY

My books are also available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Thomas-W.-Case/author/B0CL2RKDGX?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=xsU45&content

Thank you for reading, listening, and supporting poetry—it means the world!

Reviews

[John the Baptist]

Paranoia is a disease that looks for its own symptoms and usually finds them. Where the variation described in this offering comes from is not specified, but it probably is a part of the Diagnostics and Symptoms Manual, Version 5. Don't try to convince a paranoiac that they're not trying to get him. He knows they are.

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you, my friend.

[red93]

Very interesting Work Thomas, and again you leave yr Readers to guess what the back story is with this one. Really Excellent ✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you, my friend.

[Neville]

There's a whole lot of truth stashed here .. Okay, if its not truth, then it sure feels familiar .. Neville

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you, my friend.

[Soren]

So true to life it unrolls with poetic grit. Nicely done this poem feels like it has been lived. A shadow of a past memory. Well done my friend

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you. Much appreciated.

[Soren]

Most welcome