Trapped in a swamp,
stretched and struggling to pull out,
you drag through a sump,
facing the boundary by the deep-set tangles.
Your dream swallowed
by a hidden python, sinks into dark.
No echoes spread outwards,
as tongue numbs in a dead knot.
The legend of your ancestors
recedes behind thick fogs,
Winds howl like hollow souls,
summon your immediate surrender.
What else to behold?
The eagle’s eyes?
The pioneer’s burning torches?
Holding your head up,
You become a climber
wringing sweat and blood.
Through thorns and reeds,
you plow a new path.