But the long night had broken
People woke from deep slumber
Able to find their way
Even before the morning fog cleared
The darkness
Became day
The grimness
Became hope
Grim hope
Bleak finale
Reset: next!
No flutter on the water
No ripple in the wind
No fish or whale
To breech the sea
No gull on wing
To cry the air alive
No colour falls to eye
In this world
Of nothingness
In stillness
Drifted I
Aboard a ship
No sails were set
Devoid of all intent
My mind awash
In listless thought
No acts of love
From feckless heart
Yet all the while
And deep below
This ship becalmed
My spirit spare
A current
Ran unseen
It swirled
And tossed
It mustered
Forces unbeknown
Which bubbled to the top
This beauty
This pain
This anguish
This love
This cacophony of being
That is I
That is experience
That is action
Tension of light and dark
Tension of right and wrong
Never grey
Never muted
That mud of fear
That mud of anger
Gripping at my heart
Gripping at my mind
But I will not
Go under
But I will not
Lie down
Or die
In the silence
Of living
Without venture
I remind myself
Just take a step
I remember
Where every journey begins
I find my courage
In the many paths already taken
I’ve held the light
before
I’ve made my way
before
I’ve found the path
before
I will hold the light
again
Ambivalence
Trepidation
Uncertainty
Too much?
Too dark?
Too bleak?
For a bistro?
Until a voice says
“That is me, up there
On your wall.”
