Reminds me of The Waste Land by TS Eliot. Here is an excerpt from that I like.
"I sat upon the shore
Fishing, with the arid plain behind me
Shall I at least set my lands in order?"
The idea of the mind being a place is interesting to me. There is a lot you can do with that concept that can genuinely give perspective to those who are ailing. To call this idea of a lost/crumbling kingdom as a metaphor for an ailing mind "madness" seems a little harsh, though. There is nothing mad about suffering in your head in some way. Likely this piece comes from a very personal place, so I will say this: "We think of the key, each in his prison. Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison." From the same poem. Think of it not as madness. It is best to visualize it in a way that isn't so hopeless.
Onto the actual review, though. I think it's similar to The Waste Land, but it frames the idea of the lost kingdom in the mind in a different way; an interesting way. The cave is a good metaphor for isolation, and the visual of the ants crawling all over you, to me, makes light of the gentle suffering that comes with isolation. The snakes I interpret to be those who use and abuse the ailing mind. I hope that one day this squalid monarch can finally set their lands in order. A crumbling kingdom sucks for everyone. Very good story.
Points: 19
Reviews: 4
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