DARKNESS IN THE TUNNEL

How did I get here?

Times ago there was laughter and merriment

Shining whites and sparkling orbs

The clink and clank of glass ornaments

Wine flowing from hole to hole

The joust and sparring of wit

Here a victory there a slaughter

Triumphant I am unbeatable

Invincible

There is darkness in the tunnel

Everything closes around me

I grasp at straws

Reach out for walls that grab me in return

I search for stars I cannot see

A sun that no longer exists

I am put out

There is darkness in the tunnel

Can you hold my hand and let go

Can you seek and not find me

Can you talk yet not speak

Can you see and be blind

Can you be here and absent

Can you inquire and retire

I groan

I am in pain

There is darkness in the tunnel

The drop of a whisper

“You are not without worth’’

A drop becomes a trickle

A trickle a stream

A stream a river

A river a sea

There is light in the tunnel

To hope is to live

To live is to hope

I strangle the voices

I light my candle

I am no more in the tunnel

To those who question, to those who depress