Stand Tall.

The door opens, creaks eerily

The world lurches, shudders

My mind struggles against fear

… but I enter … I fall … I cry out

Anything to grab hold of

Any certainty, any hope

… but there is none

But there is a voice, it laughs, pitilessly

Tells me “Don’t fight. Just give in.”

For I am condemned, alone I fight

Alone I fall into dark nothingness

… a child of midnight’s fears

Stygian nightmares

And yes as always, damned forever

I hold back my tears.

As I fall.Endlessly.

Not knowing up or down

Will I die here tonight?

Shroud-less, no nails for coffin lids

Will I give In to this torture

This blessed crime against my hope

Or will I fight back?

I have before, but then I had strength

Now age and time weakens me

I feel frailty In my bones, In my blood

… but mostly In my soul.

I feel lost, and I think I am

… too many days, too many hurts,

Too much damned pain.

And now.

Movement ceases, my fall decreases

My pain … It eases

For I have found a certainty

A personal truth. I will find strength

It may be hidden, but never lost

I won’t give In

I will stand tall.

Again.

Copyright Stan M Rogers 2018