Beyond the Paper Gate
2025 Poetry Marathon Mile 26
Sponsored by: Mark Toney
Contest Judged: 11/7/2025 2:03:00 PM
( 7th Place )
Written: October 9, 2025
I reach the edge of my hardest days…
Whispers coil around my ankles.
Debts coil and reach like old trees,
their branches scraping the walls where I once lived.
Whispers drift through the air,
the earth rough beneath my feet.
A harsh voice fills the silence,
and greed snuffs out even the smallest kindness.
The pressure tightens around my days.
Shadowed hands weigh on my shoulders,
testing the quiet strength I carry,
I carry myself forward, breath after breath.
I remain in this forge of trial.
Flames lick the edges of my spirit.
My hardest enemy is often the mirror;
my own hands, my own doubt
pulling me toward the chasm.
They cast their nets…
trying to trap my work, my name, my light.
The hush lasts just for a heartbeat.
I walk forward - not for open doors,
but because my heart will not bend,
because the spark inside me burns.
The paper gate is behind me.
Morning light spreads across the sky.
The road ahead is open.
I earned it with every step I took.
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