anxiety

Callum Featherstone

2022 is 1984

When you’re told what to think

By populist rhetoric and martial law

When you’re told when to blink

Twenty twenty two is nineteen eighty four.

When your mental health’s on the brink

From constant pressure galore

And your heart starts to sink

Twenty twenty two is nineteen eighty four.

When your only relief is drugs and drink

And your spirit is broken to its core

As they dismantle every link

Twenty twenty two is nineteen eighty four.

When your future’s as bright as invisible ink

Wondering; is it really worth fighting for?

When dreams so big are forced to shrink

Twenty twenty two is nineteen eighty four.

Callum Featherstone

The Light

When you fear your future’s faded

When you’re growing grey and thin

When your chips have all been traded

And you feel you’ll never win

When you start to wane and wallow

In intrepid, toxic times

There’s a light for you to follow

A light inside you shines

It’s a light that fills your soul

And makes you who you are

Brightens the bleakest, blackest hole

Heals the deepest, darkest scar

In the corpus of commotion

Let that beautiful beacon beam

Across the unforgiving ocean

From the lighthouse of your dreams.

Callum Featherstone

The less you know

The more that you learn

The less you know

People grow concerned

Like Pinocchio’s nose

Falsity is believed

By conduit of media

Minds malicious; mislead

Fear amplified by tedium

They turn us into drones

While we fly their flags

Social media, iPhones

Distracting hashtags

It’s a sad situation

Absurd and obscene

For a blinded generation

Watching television screens.

Callum Featherstone

Pulling teeth for pure relief

The Mockingbird calls the shots

While politicking puerile plots

The blood it coagulates and clots

And History memory forgot.

Tears pour down Sorrow’s cheek

Hope cries out bruised and bleak

A universal losing streak

Would you want this Earth if you were meek?

The sense of loss from Zeitgeist’s grief

Innocents incur broke belief

Future frowns at Tomorrow’s thief

While pulling teeth for pure relief.

Callum Featherstone

When it flashes there before you…

In a world of fear and anguish

In a time of hate and loss

When you’re weary, worn and languid

When you’re nailed to your cross

Remember those that love you

Remember those that care

Remember those above you

And remember who was there

For this life is never promised

And there is no second go

Do your best to be honest

And cherish every second, slow

‘Cause when it flashes there before you

You’ll want to reminisce

On the moments life adorned you

With what love truly is.

Callum Featherstone

This and That

Imagine holding your breath
And emerging from underwater
Often feeling so very close to death
For over a lifetime and a quarter

This is anxiety.

Imagine being trapped under rubble
Without light or breathing space
No-one hears you scream that you’re in trouble
Trapped in a lonely, unforgiving space

This is depression.

Imagine the hand that pulls you out
Your water-logged lungs cough with relief
They did hear you scream and shout
And restored your faith and belief

That is kindness.

Imagine their arms around your torso
Crying – your knees buckle and bend
And they tell you they understand, more so
Than you could ever comprehend

That is compassion.

The world is always a much better place with you in it.

We are always much better people when we help eachother.

More love. More life.

Callum Featherstone

human. After all

As I walk
The breeze kisses my face
And vacuums
The dusty sediment
Of depression
And anxiety
Which blanketed my tired mind.

As I breathe
The cold night’s air
Fills my lungs
With a deep sense
Of appreciation
For another day of not only existing
But another day of truly living.

As I think
The prisms and pictures
Spinning and cascading colourfully
My wondrous windmill thoughts
Exemplify the beauty
Of what it is
To be alive and well.

And to be human. After all.