Canyon Walls
yet again
my balance wanes.
my callused hands
grip the sweat-soaked rock.
i steady my shaking limbs.
hold on. hold on. i whisper to the air
as my body peels from the rock.
my mind screams against God for relevance.
the Madness beckons.
then
a subtle shift of a toe.
and a twist of a foot.
and my balance is regained.
my mind settles.
they would be proud,
if they knew.
but i was born to this untamed precipice.
far from the confidence of well-traveled cliffs.
in the privacy of my own heights
i hang with burning muscles
and wonder at the Abyss below:
shall i regain my post
to poise myself yet again
to steady myself for the next slip
and to grasp again?
or surrender to the Fall and rest?
there are ledges above i will never reach.
but those on other cliffs will never track mine.
so here i struggle,
finger hold by finger hold,
fighting back the Emptiness;
only to hear my voice echo against the lonely canyon walls.
Copyright © Sam Toil | Year Posted 2014
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