Long Dive

What do we tell ourselves?
Late at night
Moments from sleep
What do we hope for?
At first light
Sun’s return
Births our new day

Do we live?
Our days asleep
Our nights awake
Differences
I struggle to hold

Huddled before, around
Flickering blue fires
Our idols
We pray to guard us
As they prey upon us

We skate life’s surface
No tracks, no figures
Left behind
Wind-blown snow
Scours any traces
Thin-ice warnings
We follow
Or ignore
By chance or choice

Plunge into hidden depths
In darkness
Cold
Frightened
Alone
We sink and drown
Or struggle deeper
Ever deeper
We find the source
Of all light