Awake

by Jaclyn McCluskie
(Kansas, United States)

For years she laid on a bed of stone
Closed her eyes and pressed on into the endless night

Yearning for the color of day yet only existing in gray shadow

All promises to herself sealed up tightly in an iron box

Retiring her future to the choices she made
Time going by, lingering somewhere between living and existing

One day the clouds part and she feels the warmth of sun upon her face

The sun reaches down and with whispering hands lifts her gently into its light

She rubs her eyes and opens them, staring unbelieving

It has been so long since such an embrace as from the sun has been felt

Elation and a swelling strength fill her body, every nerve firing with electricity

So intense is her inner reaction she knows she can no longer just exist, she must live

She has awoke from her long walk in sleep, from the bed of stone

From the dark she has finally emerged, alive and awake!