RACHAEL EVELYN BOOTH
The Darkness Within
Enduring existence alone,
Each day seeping more slowly into the next,
Filled to overflowing with nothingness
She waits for sleep to numb the pain.
Wondering how long this can go on,
Fearful of the alternatives,
Dreading the rising of each new sun
That only shows more clearly the darkness within.
All hope is dashed.
Nothing remains but tears and memories
Embraced with empty arms;
The future reveals no kinder face.
Somewhere far into the darkness
A solitary light burns imperceptibly.
To touch that light is the task at hand;
To hold it an unreality.
Sadness has ever been her solitary lover;
All others were not meant to be.
She struggles against that destiny
Knowing the day of reckoning has come.
She must now answer to the emptiness;
Face the darkness and strive for the Light
Leaving everything behind
And risking everything ahead.
February 7, 1991