Very well done. I can relate to this, very diverse emotions.

Stay Well and keep writing.

Ed

good one

Wow.

Made me a believer. I never tire of your whimsy.

Ron

very interesting write. Lady J

Excellent offering...I KNOW I AM MY OWN WORSE ENEMY!!

Love tinka

often those who question what we are about, including when we do it to ourselves is often the push forward that we need on our journey. When we think we know it all........we die.

My impressions ...

I have never read (of course my personal experience is limited) about any artist/writer/poet who pressed into the unknown - to seek the magic crystals - that wasn't ridiculed, or maligned, or laughed at during various periods in their life.

Sometimes even the artist becomes his/her own worst enemy.

There will always be those that embrace the surface of life (and all its trappings) and call it security and fulfillment. These will always be scrutinized by those who have higher callings, and those called will always be misunderstood by the surface dwellers.

For me, there is a motto I have that cycles around and through to remind me of what is important in my own calling: 'it is better to seek accuracy than accreditation'.

Real true love will always accept and lead by example. Sometimes change is difficult especially if it grinds against ones logic and understandings of life.

Stand Strong Poet - your magnificent work changes lives and mind-sets and helps many to see beyond the mundane.
Richard

Jude,

I know I'm my own worst enemy; the internal antagonist is as strong as the external ones around me. A powerfully emotive write...keep writing/righting, I'll keep reading/reviewing. Promise.

(((HUGS))) and love, Karla.

Never Never Land may be going up for a sheriffs sale...unless Mr. Jackson can get another loan against it...are we speaking of the same place...;) ed & Rufuz

The passion of love is as a ride at Nerverland where the surreal is life at times.
Love,
Susan

Well Jude I think when we love, especially at first we all live in Never Never Land. Do we love each other, hate each other. Lust for each other or want to make love to each other. So often it is a breaking in period where feelings of not only love and desire but uncertainty runs high and low.

Fee

In my own case,I'm my worse critic,as said below inthe other reviews in your caes either internalor external a very cutting write,
stan

:) Peeps should have learned by now that attempts to put you down just automatically increase your ability to rise majestically and theatrically from the centre of your own pedestal/stage, Jude! Rather than a self-deprecatory analysis of your own modi vivendi/operandi, this turns the tables nicely to show why it is such a person will NEVER-NEVER be your contender, landing them squarely in the briny without so much as a rubber ring. Or, sharing Eileen's line, if this is you walkin your own plank, then the poetic engineering is just as sound and solid as a rock. Taking this poem along with your last, they both make me think about personal charisma and aura. It's something you either got or you ain't, and no amount of aspiring to it by reason or acquired skill will ever attain it. Some auras are our natural kinsmen-and-women and shield us both in body and soul. Sadly, some of those of even our nearest and dearest just always get under our skin to unwittingly destroy - even by their good intentions. It's all a question of chemistry, and sometimes even our own ends up creating foul odour when we are out of sorts. Living poems we all undoubtedly are, whether that is our reality or not. It constantly amazes me how some, even those professing faith and a form of belief-system, deny the power of the super and supra-natural. Some others of us live their lives swinging through the unseen wires of the Invisible Trapeze and it has never let us down. This is a beautifully reasoned write to me and the co-ordinates giving the actual location of your "imagined" shores can be navigated as surely as the route from London to New York! And both saints and devils travel by that airborne passage and believe in it every day of their lives, knowing it surely exists! Love the "Physician, heal thyself" resonance you set us up with here. Have a GREAT day! aKrobatiK Kate xx

I can take this both ways
The antagonist is external or internal
be it either way it is a dead on poem I however like to think of it as internal Maybe because of the saying you are your own worst enemy
I know that phrase so very well.

Reading through this I can see each word carefully placed
this was a well thought out poem and its effects are quite strong on the reader

For in some strange way, you’ve made me reconsider
The values I’ve come to know

Probably something we should all be doing from time to time, so probably a very good thing.

This is a great read Jude -

For in some strange way, you’ve made me reconsider
The values I’ve come to know
Just to help me rekindle my convictions

without Doubt, we are all in big trouble! liked these clear lines, rekindling faith, Nicky xx

One powerful write and the emotions sway from one side to the other, very creative....

Be safe,
Karen

A very good piece.

You seem to be struggling in your last few poems with self--and if it's due to a relationship perhaps it might be fruitful ,but be careful you don't begin to doubt your own ability to discern truth!This is an incredibly perceptive poem! Anyone who can write with such clarity, shouldn't have too much trouble with reality...

ET

I like this write--it causes one to ponder nd consider self and relationships

Dear colleague, if I may call you this way. As far as I can see, you don't need the antagonist to help you. As you are a free man, you have to wander and you will find your path. By reading what you wrote, I feel that the way which leads you to yourself is wide open in front of you. Great poem, keep going, you already are a good example