The Abyss Within by Darryl Houston Smith (Published in Resilience Book 1)

A mirror held a face I scarcely knew, A stranger's gaze reflecting back at me.

The depths I plumbed, a chilling, icy hue, Where shadows lurk and secrets silently Unfold, a serpent coiled within my breast, A yearning born of darkness and despair, A soul adrift, a spirit sorely distressed,

A phantom ship upon a sea of care.

The world, a mask, a gilded, hollow show, Where laughter rings, but sorrow lies concealed.

I search for truth but find only the flow

Of fleeting moments, passions unrevealed.

The abyss within, a chasm vast and deep, Where I descend, my sanity to keep.

The Velvet Poison by Darryl Houston Smith (Excerpt from Resilience Book 2)

A velvet poison that lifts gloom. Not the cold remedy of the scalpel or pill, which numbs the nerve and subjugates the will, but a dark balm, a subtle green perfume that breaks the bars of our living tomb.

It arrives as a vapor, languid and deep, where senses mingle and are set free. The eye now hears the colors singing, the ear inhales the scent of shadows. The cramped, foul room, stained with soot and dread, transforms into a palace, richly carpeted. This is the hashish of the soul’s disease, offering the captive mind a brief, sweet relief.

Let priests and doctors call it sin or blight; this flower blooms in artificial light. It is a key to the ideal we seek, a fleeting heaven stolen from the grave, a remedy for the deepest pain. The horror of a life that stands too still.