Walking in the deepening shadows of the trees
My head bowed, focus on my pressing feet
I do dare not to look ahead
The forest’s silence fills with rushing
The river is calling me in
Will I stay in the descending shade
Or push myself into the fluorescence
I bait myself with hopes of reckoning
To find peace in such a crisis
As I approach the raging waters
They whisper of fate and solace
Yet I know they offer only an ending
Examining the rugged span of land beside me
A thought invades my mind
The loneliness of this time is sickening
This inner victim hungers for a witness
Which brings me to glance upwards
There, across the great expansion
Stands a figure shrouded in blackness
She is still with her gaze on me
She gives me weakness and yet wonder
From so far away I can see her so clearly
As she raises her hand in judgement
Instead of guiding me into the frozen river
Her frail fingers aim beyond me
I turn to search for an unexpected companion
But there is nothing but the forest trail
The water carries a hushed command
A solemn order to go back
I press my hand up to her image
In the instant the figure shatters
Her frame dissipates into many darkened corners
My life is spared once more from impediment
By some existence I cannot verify
As I turned back to the path
Some unknown piece of me awakened
