Departures ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #208

The briefest glimpse back
Before finding the stillness
In moving forward

Waiting ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #207

He waits
In silent patience
For orders
From the terrace
While a surreptitious lens
Captures his composure

I leave the depths unplumbed
Fearful of its denizens
Unaware
All my fears
I carry on my shoulders
A smothering weight

Take a breath, my son
Take a breath
Sit with the present

What you fear
Is already past
Or has not come

That is all your dour spelunking
Will ever find
So long as you believe
The depths are darkness

Be not your mind
But mindful
Open your heart
For in its depths
Is always light

I only noticed the cracks in my armour
As the blow came down

Beaten

Vulnerable

I rose, vowing not to be struck again
Opting for the only defense remaining

Offense

I listen
To those who tell me
How the world is
How the world is as it is

How disturbingly dark
Some of these worlds are
How maliciously cruel

And though I know this world exists
In their hearts and in their deeds

I know I have never set foot in such a world

From the valley floor
Yearn for the peaks
And high mountain passes

Though the paths I see
Attain neither peak nor pass

Trapped in this valley of lassitude

The path is wide enough to share
I need not walk alone