Palpitating. Pounding. Penetrating.
Creeping. Crawling. Corrupting.
Foreboding.
Disturbed. Dismayed. Discombobulated.
Anxious. Agitated. Apprehensive.
Troubled.
Snaking around and under and through.
Shrouding everything it encounters.
Sinister limbs lurch and reach.
Fear pounds in brave chests
And courage claws surfaceward.
Breath breaks in scant bursts.
It wears oppressive doom as an accessory.
A snarl, menace, sneer as make-up.
Shadows as eyeshadow to overshadow.
Spines tremble. We cringe. Hearts falter.
Souls shudder and gasp, long for light.
Crave a reprieve, relief, respite.
Hideous. Horrific. Horrible.
Vast, sprawling tentacles clutch, snatch, latch.
Suction, suck, isolate, cull, suffocate, crush.
Blinded and blindsided, stumbling, arms thrash.
Groping, desperation rising, rising, Rising high.
What help is there? We wear despair.
Cackling. Clawing. Coming closer.
Surrounds us, obscures sight, magnifies sound.
Screeches near. Taunts, mocks, hisses.
Terror grips anew. Fear his bedfellows.
Panic engulfs in ever-widening circles.
Our meager Hope begins to evaporate
in ever-growing futility.
Blankets us in scratchy, stifling, smothering swirls.
Torments. Harasses. Gaslights.
Messes with our minds. Outright aggression.
Tattered Tendrils of optimism blow, forlorn, in the breeze.
Beauty is starved. Deprived by gloom.
A fool’s errand, false illusion, fool’s paradise.
Malevolent Darkness, you do not get to win.
Puff your putrid breath. Threaten us with death.
Fill us with vast dread, consternation, horror.
And yet we rise. With Light before our eyes.
Perplexed. Shaken. Filled with questions.
Afflicted, anxious, but WE ARE NOT CRUSHED.
We stand, smitten, but not surrendered.
Shaking, shaken, but not undone.
We push back. We fight for light.
Reach to take hold of that which offers redemption.
We find Goodness. Embrace Beauty. Hug Truth.
We may lose our very lives, but in the process, we are finding them.
Humility bears us up. Emboldens us to carry on.
To stand gently strong. Love waves a banner.
Vengeful Darkness must retreat, bit by bit.
Gratitude arrives, melody after melody dances across the threshold of her lips.
Malicious Darkness shakes at every note. Shrieks in disgust.
Virtue holds vigil, stern, unyielding, staunch, direct.
Tentacles recoil. We breathe deeper.
Comrades-in-arms come to us.
Fragrant wind wafts away shifting shadows bit by bit.
Peace loops his arm in the crook of our elbow. His eyes shine.
Integrity links on the other side. “Take heart, my friend.”
Her words fall as a bubbling brook.
Gratitude’s melodies, a wondrous backdrop.
Light is not lost. Light always pierces darkness.
At this pronouncement, Darkness wails
In shrill despair. Writhes in anguish.
His power lost. He can’t prevail. No matter what.
Or come what may.
He shrinks, protests, whimpering turns.
We lock hold tight with comrades-in-arms. Clench our palms.
Courage swells. Light multiplies. And glory sings.
And we can take the next step through.
Step forth in hope and live in light. Revived anew.
“There far away was the Lonely Mountain on the edge of eyesight. On its highest peak snow yet unmelted was gleaming pale. “So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their ending!” said Bilbo, and he turned his back on his adventure.” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien
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