Slipping Through Time

“Slipping through time” was a play on BBC Radio 4. Written by Louise Monaghan, the play follows the story of a young mum with epilepsy. I don’t have epilepsy, but I know a friend who does. Louise, who has epilepsy said: “I never liked the fact that there was a part of me that I had no control over. It is a bit like giving birth or vomiting; you cannot stop your body from going through the process.”

More of her own experiences of epilepsy and how she came to write the play can be found here:
https://www.epilepsysociety.org.uk/blog/slipping-through-time-25-05-2017#.WWCydoQrLox

I found the play very moving, as it very much brings the experience to life from the inside, and that is what inspired this poem of the same name.

Slipping Through Time

Now comes my vision, a tearing apart
Comes the moment, oh my beating heart
Time stops for a moment, it’s suddenly night
As if I am sleeping, then waking in light

How can one describe, I grasp for a word
The world spins around , strange noises heard
It’s like my world darkens, eclipse of the sun
I know I am lost, and the darkness has won

I rage, my mouth foaming, as if in a fight
My body is not mine, but chaos delight
I am somewhere else, within a high tower
Storms rage outside with fury and power

I’m slipping through time, in empty haze
Life in fits and starts, now and always:
This is who I am, oh my beating heart
Now comes my vision, a tearing apart

I manage, I cope, thus my victory won,
And from darkness return to bask in the sun
Slipping through time, whatever befall
In hope not despair, I shall not fall