Poem for Endurance

Eyes That See, Ears That Hear

I see it before me

Looming over me

Its size dominates me

Blocks nearly all light

The surface is smooth

Leaving me no place to grasp

No footholds to climb

The darkness and ferocity of my foe

Mock my small human form

I am so tiny

My grip is too weak

My legs have carried me

More miles than I remember

They tremble with fatigue

Before this beastly monument

This wall was not on the map

I have adhered to it always

Mountains were scaled by me

I wandered in valleys

Appreciative of their beauty and ease

The straightaways – I sprinted

All were on the charted course

My map is true

My compass has not failed me

Yet there it sits before me –

Wrong

Ending my quest before I can complete it

I am so tiny

And this obstacle so large

My grip is too weak

And there is no place for my hand

My legs tremble and buckle beneath me

I cannot win

Tears bathe my face

And water the earth

With handfuls of mud

I furiously scrub at my palms

Slowly awareness breaks through

I marvel at the callouses that have

Replaced the soft flesh

Without my notice

I rub the mud up my arms

Noticing for the first time

The strength of the muscles and sinews

My crying abates

The wall is large and seemingly indomitable

But my will is steel

And my eyes sharp

My mind is keen

On quivering determined legs

I stand

And stare the obstruction down

It is still enormous and terrible

But no longer frightening

And then, from the top

I see it,

Hidden in the shadows,

Blocked from light,

A hand

Extending a length of rope

I hear a faint voice calling out

"Take it, and I'll help you over."