Labyrinthine
Trapped in a sinuous labyrinth,
I run down twisting corridors of well-trodden soil,
flanked on each side
by bushes twice my height!
I go left; I go right;
turning left again, I hit a wall.
For hours I have been inside here running.
Panic is swallowing my soul,
for I am horribly
horribly
lost.
Overcome by my anxiety,
I let myself collapse to the dirt floor
where I sit trying to compose myself,
and as I sit,
I struggle with the puzzle -
how to escape this huge web
with tentacles like those of
of a giant green monster of the sea.
How will I ever find my way
out of this impossible maze?
Afternoon’s glare barely reaches me where
I sit in the gloom of my doom.
Suddenly, the sound of happy voices!
And not just within earshot.
This sound is SO close that were I to just
reach out through one of these large bushes,
I am sure I could actually embrace
the sweetness of the joy I hear.
I have been left and right and all around.
these long paths,
and I refuse again to go down them.
Grateful to be wearing my long pants
and a long-sleeved shirt,
I remove a polyester jacket
which I have had wrapped around my waist.
With the jacket, I cover as much of my body as I can,
particularly my face and hands.
The lovely garden which I had viewed from the road
when I first came upon this miserable maze
is right on the other side of the bush
where I have ended up.
I know it; I just know it . . .
I take the plunge!
June 27, 2020
for Dear Heart's 'Maze - 10 Word Challenge' Contest
Submitted Sept. 14, 2021 for the ''L'' Contest New Or Old Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Constance La France
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