In the 10 minutes before the clothes dryer beeps, can I tackle this weeks VisDare from Anonymous Legacy? Hmmm…..I’m not inclined every week, but some I can’t resist.
STEPS
Yearning for out,
walls closing in,
light right there,
it’s the unseen gate that’s the problem.
Take them one at a time,
you say to yourself,
but there’s that unseen gate,
right at the base,
whispering
the steps are too many, too slick,
you might get hurt, better not try.
And what if something unexpected scurries across,
trips you up?
What if you fall
and end up with a wound
bigger than you already have?
And what’s at the top?
You can’t quite make it out.
What if you manage the whole journey
and find it isn’t what you hoped?
But would that be worse than standing still?
It’s the unseen gate
that’s the problem,
the thing that must be scaled.
Just beyond it,
your only hope,
that first step.
(130 words and the dryer is done.)
These VisDare’s are supposed to be flash fiction, but since I don’t what flash fiction is, I hesitate to claim creating it.
What a great photo prompt! And what a cool response. Thank you!!
Lovely work! You’ve captured all the hope, anxiety, anticipation and doubt that come with a new venture, a new step, and in such effortless free verse! And of course the dryer makes a natural timer for such a word sprint.
I love reading your compositions and look forward to the next one!
Wow! This is great!
And then this! A vocalization of the invisible gate that is stopping me from being still…from stopping…resting…being…
“What if you fall
and end up with a wound
bigger than you already have?
And what’s at the top?
You can’t quite make it out.
What if you manage the whole journey
and find it isn’t what you hoped?”
What if you fail…and end up with a wound bigger than you already have…
Enjoyed your creation, Marilyn!
Though I think I would rather be going up those steps away from the dark towards the light. In fact I think I would be running up them fast!
If I were standing at the top it would be a very different journey and not one I would be wanting to make down those stairs!! I must suffer from claustrophobia!
Ah . . . the unseen gate. I didn’t even realize it was stopping me, but there it is. And that wound, maybe making it bigger would be a step toward healing but I’m not sure I want to take the risk.
Thanks for writing that is both beautiful and penetrating.
I have walked steps like that (literally!) in Big Bend National Park. Scared me to death! Wrote a whole column about it. But of course, it applies in other ways, too. Which is why I keep writing about hiking. You do flash fiction/poetry; I do extended metaphor/essay. Whatever works.
I’ve always loved the image of steps going up, and that picture is lighting up my imagination. It must have done that to yours too because these words are lovely. Keep climbing, Marilyn
My comment posted! Yippee!