Not Everyone Makes It Through The Ravine

by Paul Tristram / August 14th, 2016

Broken minds and souls
littered left and right.
The sometimes invisible pathway
is treacherous.
You can’t always trust the help…
when it’s even there.
Vultures circling you by day,
wolves trailing you at night.
Walking like the last step
might not be actually there.
Working on instinct always
yet wary of your decisions
right up until the next trap
has been safely passed.
Armed with only stamina,
perseverance
and running on empty,
each mental mile
through this is a miracle.
But there is no time
to celebrate that fact
as another bunch
of backstabbing enemies
are about to try
and ambush your heart.
You can just feel it in your water,
as you grip yourself tighter,
rein in the pain,
stop thinking about the bigger picture
and instead focus upon
the rocks and bushes closest to you.

Paul Tristram is a widely published Welsh writer who deals in the Lowlife, Outsider, and Outlaw genres.  He wrote his first poem as a teenager following his release from the (Infamous) Borstal ‘HMP Portland’, and he has been creating Literary Terrorism ever since.  His novel ‘Crazy Like Emotion’ is available to purchase right here . Also his collection of shorter fiction Kicking Back Drunk ‘Round The Candletree Graves' is available to purchase at https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0DFMTSR4F Both books are published by Close To The Bone Publishing. Read other articles by Paul, or visit Paul's website.

This article was posted on Sunday, August 14th, 2016 at 8:04am and is filed under Poetry.