17.

The frost creeps in at night

Covering the ground in ice

Glistening in the harsh moonlight

Muted and suspended in time.

A carriage upon which I am

Plods through the bleak land

Black stark against the white

Me and my silent entourage.

Barren trees lined the path

Fallen leaves guided the way

Crushed beneath heavy soles

And carriage wheels as we go.

Silence is the music of this night

But crows joined in with dissonant notes

Strained are the voices entrapped

Within the solemn faces of my men.

The crying wind ushers us to the place

Where even angels fear to tread

The broken tower tolls its bell

Breaking the noiseless enchanted spell.

Within the frozen ground I lay my head

A sea of tears blanket my legs

And I sink into the unfathomable darkness

As the unforgiving watcher danced upon my grave.

Deeper I slip into gaping darkness

My slumber turns into formless dreams

So deep is the aching chill of this casket

My bones rot and my heart freeze over and over.

In the deep set enveloping darkness

Wrapped inside this never ending dream

A tiny pin-prick of light

Shines from deep within.

A quiet Voice whispers

In the deafening stillness

Echoing through the hollow chamber

Beckons and calls to me.

Though the light is small

Barely a dancing flame upon a candle’s wick

Yet in this encompassing darkness and cold

It burns a raging blaze.

The Voice that calls

Is ever so gentle and warm

Thaws and sears this frozen heart

And brings spring within the storm.

The darkness melts in tendrils away

Shedding and pealing like sludge

Layer by layer it falls aground

As I am reborn once again.

Just like a little butterfly

Breaking from its trappings

Fleeing the icy wintry land

Dissolving into the coming spring.

In this land where death hangs like a cloying mist

Reflects in my eyes a field for hope

As the light shines and burns on in my heart

The accusing reaper rails and roils in helpless fury.

For disillusioned and lost I am no longer

Freed I am from the prison of dreams and death

In light of Truth my eyes are opened

To the Holy One that calls me by name.