Exile's Journey
Hey everyone! #PoetryFriday hitting and I wanted to share a story. I used some visual inspiration for this one and hope that you enjoy it.
If you want something shorter and more emotional check out Apocalypse (a previous post).
Exile's Journey
Forty days
from the last oasis
you can see the City of Duhr.
A glimmering mirage
of white marble walls
bright
pristine
bold.
The sun turns the city into a lighthouse
in the desert
glowing ever more bright
through the
ash
smoke
fire
of the city's guardian
a titanic phoenix
hovering above Duhr.
No one can enter the City
without judgement
from the phoenix.
Only those with a soul to match the purity of the marble may enter.
I turn away from the phoenix
fearing it can see me
even this far
seeing what I've done
and left undone.
A few feet away from me
I see the tree
marked on my map
beyond the watchful eye of the phoenix.
Digging
digging
I shovel through the sand at the tree's base
as it is marked on the map
until I hit stone.
Brushing away the sand
I find the arch with the mark of the phoenix
just like she said I would.
In the arch I find
a weathered
beaten
wooden door
with a keyhole matching the key she gave me.
The door opens
to a dark hallway
with steps
spiraling down into the earth.
I light my torch and begin my descent.
Sunlight fades away as I creep down the steps
deeper
deeper
until the door above is unseen
and all my torch shows is more stone
and steps.
When the stairs run out
and the decline stops
I find myself in a water way
knee deep
torch fading in the dampness
water current gently
suggesting
I move forward.
My torch goes out
leaving only
the sound of trickling water
and cool current chilling my legs
to satisfy my senses.
The path forces me to a crouch
just like she said it would
as I crawl on my hands and knees
through the water
pressing my head up to gasp the ever thinning air.
A light in the distance
through the water
as the path now leads me submerged
to swim the rest of the way
keeping my body flat to push through the shaft
fitted for a much smaller man.
With a belly full of breath
I swim
fast
hard
pushing through the shaft
getting stuck
wiggling free
breath running out
as I emerge to the light.
The chamber is a grand cavern
water running into an abyss of blackness
lit by the glow of a flaming sphere hovering in the center of the pit.
The sphere burns even though I don't touch it
scorching away thin layers of flesh
a burn that hurts
yet
relieves the burdens on my soul.
A trail of flame ascends to the top of the cavern
where I now see it to be the tail of the phoenix.
She left me a ladder on the far wall
climbing
climbing
until the flaming sphere is but a dot
and the heat of the phoenix's tail turns my sweat to steam
I approach the top of the cavern
an open air well.
Stepping out the well
I see her waiting
bright
pristine
bold
in her ivory dress
wreathed in golden angelic wings.
She is just how I remember her
in life
before the treatments
before the tears
before the talk with the doctor.
She slips something into my pocket
another map
another key
another path into the City?
The phoenix watches us
it's judging eyes drinking in the misdeeds of my life
uncertain of the total accounting of my life.
Will I be cast out
again?
How long must I wander the desert?
What must I do to right my many wrongs?
When can I stay with her
forever
in the City of Duhr?
<end>
Thank you for hosting #PoetryFriday to Kathryn Apel. Make sure to check out her blog: https://katswhiskers.wordpress.com/2019/08/30/two-aussie-verse-novels-and-picture-book-news/.
Let me know what you think about this poem or anything else I post on here.
Thanks!
Tim