The safety line of faith falls before me
as I thus begin my uncertain journey into
the dark, dank, desperate tomb guarding
my heart from the luminance of freedom.

The light of day quickly fades and my step slows
naturally in the shadows of fear and doubt from
my inhuman past, sucking the very luster of
the outside world into the hard shell of my pride.

Stumbling across the time-worn remains of those
who passed before me daring to scrape the mortar
from my egos protective wall, I now tightly clench
my solitary saving link to the realm of light above.

The cobwebs of memory cling to me, distracting
my ignoble pursuit, their feathery fibers softly stroke
my aged pate, tickling my fancy deluded fantasy of
past conquests,  who failed to make it even this far.

The chill reflection of pain inflicted, permeates
the thick air of regret spreading quickly throughout,
dropping me in my tracks, for even a burning sense
of pride can not break through the glacial wall of guilt.

Falling briefly into a pit of sorrow dug deeply by the
hardened daggers of rejection, I hang on perilously to
my thin rope of salvation and pull myself up to the one
glowing niche seen so far in this fruitless quest for life.

The storied walls shine brightly, painted with broad tender
strokes of passion, unlimited in scope, and unknown heretofore.
The glowing jewel, freely reflected overwhelmed and defined
the sense of this creation, yet, was crushed nonetheless.

I must bend low to enter the shallow grave of lust, the
foul stench of death rising from the rotting flesh of
bacchanalian desire,  principle cloaked by fermented denial,
pleasing in only a brief decaying moment without purpose.

I now can finally feel before me the shriveled remnant, the
object of this odyssey, absorbed as it is in apprehension of
the dire prospect that no one, no one, save the Almighty,
wants anything that this frail tender heart could possibly give.

Gladly grasping this fine line of hope, I struggle to ascend
from this cavern of despair, warm in the knowledge that
freedom must come from within before love can be truly
received or given without, and that Love is the greatest: Of All.