by Colene Smith

I sit alone.
The darkness is so thick Into more  Nothingness.
The birds do not sing here.
No one is here
To keep me company
In my lonely vigil.
The flowers and the trees
And all the pretty things
Do not grow here.
The stifling black
Absorbs all life.

Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart beats a steady rhythm
With the clock on the wall
Somewhere.
Someone keeps track of time.
Here in my darkness, the only resemblance
Of life or time is the slow steady breathing
Of my body.
My soul and brain
Do not exist.
Bodily functions are kept alive as though
On a medical life support system.
In the darkness that surrounds me
I hear someone
Call my name.

Deep within my darkness
Something stirs.
A spark
A flame
Life does not exist
In this empty hole
Of black.

The voice still calls my name.
It pierces the darkness bringing life
Into the shell that is called by my name.

The flame grows.
I feel it.
I feel it.
Beautiful life
Flowing through the vessels of my frame.
I feel it!
As the voice once again calls me in my darkness.

There is life.

I turn to see a beam of light
Coming toward me through the
Cold, damp, darkness.

It rests on me and
I feel its warmth
And again
Someone calls my name.

I follow the light
And it seems to go on forever.
The light grows and as it grows
I grow.
I feel more that just its warmth
I feel love.
I feel joy.
I feel life.

Life is glowing from within me
I hear the birds sing.
I see the flowers and the trees
And all the  pretty things around me.
And the voice
Still calls my name.

I hear my own voice.
It calls to
Someone
In the darkness.
And I follow
Still
The Light.