Wilderness

There is a wilderness in my soul.
A wilderness that refuses to be tamed.
It is a lonely place.
It is a place of needs and wants.
It needs nothing and yet wants it all.

It is full of thorns and broken promises.
There are trees that tower.
They are tall and sturdy.
They kiss the sky.
And then fall back rebuffed.

The wilderness is a place of peace and comfort,
It gives shelter to the tired and weary,
It hides the sins of men and beast.
And the crimes of passion,
And yet it lies exposed itself.

The wilderness is at oneself with itself.
It stores the weeds of sorrow,
Sorrows of it's own,
And sorrows of others,
The weeds choke my soul.

Animals large and small run about the wilderness,
There is food aplenty to nourish them,
They eat and flourish,
But ah, the undergrowth stifles their growth,
The undergrowth smothers my soul.


The paths of this wilderness are many and varied,
Some curved, Some are scenic,
Some have travelers, Others are deserted,
Many have the ghosts of my past,
These hold my soul in thrall.


To live with myself is to live in this wilderness,
To live here is to be without the sun and the moon and the stars,
To live here is to be entangled in the past,
With no toehold in the future,
This wilderness is my soul......