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To Fathom Hell or Soar Angelic

by Tony Whitaker

“To fathom Hell or soar angelic, just take a pinch of psychedelic”
- Humphrey Osmond (1917 -2004)

“Picture yourself”
, on this ship you see,
this tab is your ticket on LSD.
Diving to depths in your subconscious mine,
unshackled from a conscious world
which defines and confines.

The trip relies on set and setting
as the drug is slow to feed your brain,
the you catch you canÂ’t stop laughing
or feeling what Hell contains.

A picture on the wall
now a portal into space
or merely looking in a mirror
shocked your skin crawls ‘cross your face

The angels on your shoulders
soon start to softly speak
taking you ever higher
as you look inside to seek.
There you find the truth
all search for in their lives,
with the fall of old beliefs
as you see yourself inside.

Hell, for some, comes stalking
if not ready for this ride.
For if your head is unsteady
the reaper becomes your guide.
Though it may not kill you
your mind may bend or break,
into the depths of some unknown,
for a few will never wake.

This old friend has a message
for those who dare to hear.
Listen with serenity
as the real you will appear.
freeing what this world has taught.
Then there comes a change
worth more than can be bought.

But fear the voice you hear inside
and a heavy price you'll pay,
for your mind makes haste to flee
but the devil finds his prey.
Though you struggle for the key
to escape this tortuous trap,
only time can make you free
or like for Syd Barrett your mind simply snaps.

I relish those paths once taken
all those years ago,
where I danced with the angels
and learned how to 'feel' it
as I smile and say 'Hello'.
Like watching a nude sunrise
my soul was set aglow
and forever changed a person
this someone I now know.

03/09/2008

Author's Note: The power of LSD, for me, was a life changer. I did not do it very much, as I finally had a “bad trip” and that was it for me. But I say there are such beautiful and the bad sides to this psychotropic drug. There are so many limitless possibilities for this in helping those with certain personality disorders and, as is so well documented, the improvements in most schizophrenics. But though the 60s opened this drug to all it was a huge mistake. Set and setting are everything with this powerful hallucinogen. When that is not considered this drug can take you places where no mind was meant to wander, at least consciously. But I still say I grew up the day I did my first trip on LSD

Posted on 03/09/2008
Copyright © 2026 Tony Whitaker

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by A. Paige White on 03/09/08 at 04:14 PM

Wow, Tony. I was always terrified of that stuff. I'd heard all the horror stories. We had a guy that lived right by the school I went to that messed himself up permanently on drugs. Slurred speech and such. Just not right in the head anymore. The stories of "good" trips just didn't tip the scales of what I saw for myself that could happen to someone on a bad one. Glad you made it through your experimentation with no lasting bad effects. Heh. I had a demon try to introduce himself to me when my son was only a couple of years old and I had nothing more than nicotine and caffeine in my bloodstream. I learned from that experience what these creatures are capable of and I understand why some people go crazy. If one of these powerful ones target you and you haven't got the Holy Spirit to defend you, it really can drive you mad. Great poem!

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