Gordon Ferris is a Dublin writer living in Donegal for the past thirty-six years. He is a member of the Dublin Writers Forum and has had poetry and short stories published in A New Ulster, The Galway Review, and poetry in Hidden Channel.

Light

Waiting for the greyness to go
It dulls and moves the heart
Leaves it hidden in the shadows
Afraid to come out and glow.
Don’t you want to see or show?
The light inside your heart
How it illuminates
All around you
Makes all who know you
Want to be your brother and sister
Want to love you.

Sleepers

There are those among us
Look like us
Speak just like us
React in every way like us.
Hidden in plain sight
So hard to tell apart.
If you look closer you’ll see
A lack of empathy when sad events
comes among us, like a mutual loss
that brings a giant tug at the heartstrings
But in their eyes, there’s blankness.
When we see beauty in nature
A colour that lifts us, a scent, or a picture of life painted
Or the sound of enchanting music that raises us to newer heights of happiness
But there are ones among us
Who, if you watch closely, you’ll see, there’s no reaction,
Sad expression,
but no tears of sadness
Smiles and laughter
But no tears of joy.
They mimic us and feign our emotions
But, watch closely and you’ll see, there already among us.