Forest

Just a boy in a forest of shadows,
walking a thin dirt road toward the end.
All is still but for a chilly breeze,
and in the cold dark i pretend it's whisper is my friend.
Where are you going? I pretend he asks.
To the end, I reply, away from the past.
Isn't his your past? He holds up a snake,
It will be no use running.
Then the viper struck and my leg was frozen in fear.
The pain shot through my whole being,
my hands gripped the earth below,
and I quivered in anticipation of another bite.
A deep rumble pulled my head around.
The wind began to howl.
A lion, mouth filled with blood was standing over me.
What was below my knee could hardly be called a leg.
The beast roared, deafening me,
and then he stood and walked away.
I clawed my way to a tree
and managed to sit against it.
I sat, gasping, grasping for air.
I saw, leaning over, my picture in pool of blood.
It rose and fell as the life drained away.
Then it came and alighted next to me,
a beautiful bird of the night, graceful like death.
You look like you need help.
It's past that, it's past, I said, not even looking up.
Have you asked for help?
From who?
Yes! And with that he began to sing
a haunting melody caught on one vowel.
Ooooo-ooooo-ooo-ooooooo-ooooo
and he sang and sang, and so I raised my head
and we sang together, the owl and I.
We sang and we sang and when I looked he was gone
and in his place stood a man covered in blood.
You look awful, I said to him.
And he smiled at me,
and he wept with me.
The man was cut and torn all over.
As a tear fell into the pool beneath me,
I saw his feet, a hole in each one
still bleeding and filling my puddle.
He grabbed my arms and pulled me up,
and as I stood on my legs he held me close.
His blood covered me, as he bled, there for me.
We danced, we laughed, we sang, and we ran.
Down the path the two of us went.
The owl came and landed on his shoulder.
He patted it and it turned toward me and winked.
Looking like it was laughing, it took wing into the sky
as the light came up and the shadows fell over,
and as it flew across the light I saw it was a dove here,
and its graceful shape I saw that I was in love here.
Just a boy in a forest of lights,
walking a thin dirt road toward the end.