I recall with dread
a long dim stairway –
grimy spreading cobwebs –
trolls drumming long bony fingers,
lurking unseen in shadows.
Heaviness like a boulder,
pressing down on brittle ribs.
Breathing becomes strained.
Blood pumps sluggishly.
Time suspended
in a murky pool of sludge.
Too much pain even to weep.
No longer will tears brim
in empty eyes.
And in this echoing hollow
of blackest hell –
you shine,
like a softly glowing nightlight
in my memory.
© January 2010
Katharine L. Sparrow
