There’s a place called Darkness
Where despair lingers
And hope is neither a word nor a feeling
Where loneliness overcomes
Even in the midst of company
And dreams are crushed
By the weight of hopelessness
Where past joys are distant specks
Veiled by the passage of time
And time itself seems imprisoned
By the gridlock of painful memories
Where the air suffocates with every breath
And thoughts of death and dying
Drift in and out, unrestrained
There’s a place called darkness
Where the staircases
Spiral down to depths of anguish
I’ve seen this place before
Albeit from afar
From the edges of sanity
Struggled to hold my ground
And not be pulled into the vortex of unimaginable grief
I’ve seen some brave souls
Fight with their life
Overcome, one step at a time
Holding out hope, even in its seeming impossibility
Lift their heads a wee bit, enough to glimpse
The sky and stars above
And allow a sliver of light to filter through
Hold on to elusive pillars for support
And reach deep down their conscious beings
To draw out a memory or two
Of some choice encounter, a smile, a nod of encouragement
Reach beyond the walls of that dark place
To find a helping hand
Eager to pull them up and out
And the light of faith
Begins to spread
And the heart starts beating again
Knowing that Love had never left.