The Gauntlet

The journey of life is never easy
Each new road a vision of light
But as the path stretched out ahead
Darkness came and brought the night.

At first the path was clear and open
The only obstacle where earth and sky meet;
Then without warning, the curtains fell
And revealed the cramped and narrow street.

Walls of bars on either side
Not unlike a dungeon find
The way behind completely blocked
And dark and mist arise to blind.

The attack begins with little jabs
An idle ouch and rub the spot
But as I tried to take each step
A desperate battle became my lot.

Spears with poisoned razor tips
That slash and stab with lighting’s strike
Leaving shallow bleeding wounds
More to prolong than kill outright.

My mind in fragments lost at sea
My body weak from mortal blight
My heart curled in a fetal ball
My eyes grow dim with fading sight.

With determined hope and shallow breath
To broken and bloody for else to do
I simply breathe out, “Father God,”
“No matter what, I’m trusting you.”

Becki Franklin
02/25/09