Poem - Blood & Shadows, Poet - Jerry Langdon ( Germany, America)

 

Blood & Shadows

Jerry Langdon

In a sordid flow of ink

I watch my paradise sink.

Memories disperse in drear.

All but my longing disappear.

Tethered to a tormented soul

I endlessly fall down a hole

Of blood and shadows

As deep sorrow overthrows.

I bring my tears to page

Whilst the inner wars rage.

The strength on which I rely

Weakened by feelings I deny.

Denial doesn't make them go away.

My fight plunges me in a decay 

Of blood and shadows

As deep sorrow overthrows.

© Jerry Langdon 2023

Jerry Langdon is   born on 2 May, 1967.

As A child I felt like a hand-me-down being raised by my Aunt. This is the root of who I am.

When He started drawing it was his escape from reality. Much like my poetry, most of my drawings became dark. He lived in two worlds. Under people I would try to smile or be indifferent, alone he drew or wrote of demons and dark things. These demons were mine; they were the true feelings he carried. He didn't start to write officially until 1985 when he was 17 and on my own. He wrote of dreams and about the love I felt but could never embrace. This was the birth of Sandman my later nickname and pseudonymn. Strangly enough he never directly signed anything under my pseudonymn. That mask was only there to give Jerry Langdon a platform. After all it was Jerry Langdon and not Sandman that was creating. Or was it? 

He was born and raised in Southern Michigan. He graduated from school through Adult Education because he was 18 and the public school didn't like the fact that he was on my own. After graduating I went into the Army, which I had joined at 17. (The main reason why I was on my own at 17 as my Aunt did not take the news well and so we argued, fought and I was kicked out / left home. Call it a mutual decision.) The Army brought me to Germany October 1986. He stayed in the Army in Nuernberg Germany until 1991. Well I was based there; he did serve in Operation Desert Shield. He got out of the Army in 1992 and returned to Germany. He has been here since. He never knopw how to answer where he comes from as he lives most of his life in Germany but he is still an U.S. citizen. He is  a Gemanerican ( German / American). 

In June 1998 He started a literary Magazine. He called it Raven Cage; Raven being an homage to Edgar Allan Poe, Cage being a metaphore to the feelings we poets release, and the heart we often lock things away in. Poetry has always been a part of me and my love for it was the birth of Raven Cage. He has been in many facebook groups and am still in a few. One group stands out among them. Dark Poetry Society. I feel at home there. The talent alone in Dark Poetry Society led to the need for its own Magazine and so Dark Poetry Society Zine was born. 

His writing inspirations are vast but my major influences and favorite poets are Edgar Alan Poe, Robert Frost, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He loves music and am inspired by various rock bands plus a slew of Authors in many genres. He loves Terry Brooks, Tolkien, Pierced Anthony. He loves don't forget your towel Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchet, Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Clive Barker. The list can go on and on. 

His motto in art and poetry is: There are no mistakes, there are only features. 

His Books:

Frosted Dreams    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084QN6PVG

The Rollercoaster Heart   https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084TNH372

Death and Other Cold Things   https://www.amazon.com/dp/1533097992

Behind the twilight veil    https://www.amazon.com/dp/1496052846

Temperate Darkness   https://www.amazon.com/dp/1494262398