Lost On The Mountain (Poetry)

It has been a hard climb
these last days have slowed me
the rock grown unfamiliar now
its face unfriendly — set
in a dispassionate frown.

Anchored into dullness —
the soft agony of aches
long nails of punishment
that keeps me dangling here
so close to the abyss
my body trembles.

And so I wait — all chance
of rescue with the daylight fades...
the darkness mocks
yet comforts in its way —
I cannot see the drop below
as mist rolls in
I hear old voices —
cling to what they say.

Belief is all — I wind about
thin rotted ropes
and test my little weight —
frail scrap that swings
measured as a pendulum in
a narrow space
borrowed for a while.

This cold mountain all my own
carved underfoot
and dangerous with uncertainties
more sheer — all glass and rain
no easy hold on life —
despair’s impasse eroding
inch by stubborn inch.

The spirit presses on —
keeps going just as long
as faith holds out.
I put my trust in angels —
feel the feather-brush of wings
sweeping doubt aside
allowing light — orphan-pale
to filter.