Life- A Book of Poems

Hope

I am alone in the woods at night.
Only a small fire brings me warmth.
It's my only salvation in this cold dark world.
My only hope against the darkness.

As darkness creeps ever closer,
I need wood to keep the fire alive.
I must take from the forest around me,
bringing death to the living trees.

When the flame grows bright,
I celebrate ecstatically.
When the flame grows dim,
I grow in anxiety.
There is no end to the stress I feel,
no peace that lasts for long.

Then the wood goes damp,
and my precious flame goes out.
The darkness comes to consume me.
It speaks to me through whispers.

"All hope is lost," says fear.
"Surely your end is near."
"What's good is gone," says sadness.
"You will hopelessly be led to madness."
"It's not your fault," says anger.
"Curse the woods for lacking good amber!"

And they leave me thrashing on the ground.
One whisper after another,
slowly crushes my spirit inside,
leaving me cold and alone.

Then came an embracing light,
which made darkness cower behind the trees.
I look up to the orange sky,
and see the rising sun.

Never have I felt such warmth,
such aliveness and peace,
that makes my spirit whole.
It is more than the warmth of the fire,
which only had a fraction of its power.

I frolic in the forest,
with joy in my heart and love in my soul,
without a care of where I go.
Now that the sun always shines,
I will never be cold again.

But then the sun sets,
and the darkness returns.

I run but cannot escape.
The whispers grow ever stronger.
Of pain, loss, death,
that breaks my spirit in two.
I am left curled on the ground,
as I suffer in a cold cruel world,
where light has abandoned me in the dark.

Then the suffering I endure,
awakens my own light.
It shines deep inside,
from a place beyond understanding.

It illuminates the forest around me,
and I see...
warmth is all.
It is one from the forest and trees,
with the ground, the birds, and the sky,
and even with the darkness itself,
which only covers the light I am inside.

I make peace with the dark,
and its whispers no longer freeze.
I sing and dance in the forest of woes,
for I am one with the sun in the sky!