Traversing the Valley

With only a trickle of lifeblood left inside an empty lonely shell Even rage had seized to flow from an insurmountable mountain Of sadness into the abysmal canyon of shadows and descent A cascade of nothing A waterfall of void Rapids of stagnation Who needs a bridge when there is no path to follow the pain No marker warning of slippery cliffs which may kill or relieve As if there were rungs to imprint onto a mournful step ladder The other side in vain Crossings blocked off A turnstile of dried tears Rest had become a euphemism for stagnant personified motion Peace a mocking charade sung by desiccated vultures in waiting Delusion an anchor of unfulfilled promise and deflated surrender A pontoon with no mooring Blind cataracts of drift sand Ripples on a shoreline of drought And yet when the floodgates opened and tears moistened the shore You told me to stay put while you collected drift wood for passage Vowed to furnish an overpass on foundations of love and compassion Set pebble onto pebble Heaped hope into my heart And bridged the gap in my soul 12th May 2020