Celie

Inspired by The Color Purple by Alice Walker.

A lone woman stumbles onward.

On a road that is dark and twisted

with brambles and thorns that claw at ankles

and steep banks set to trip all who approach their edge.

She has but one light,

a single lantern that keeps her company

through the perils she faces.

But then the light is taken,

dimmed without warning,

leaving only the promise of return.

This worn woman wasn’t always on this road

once, she tried to garden

but every seed planted was taken 

and nurtured by another, perhaps kinder, soul.

She had not really wanted to garden.

the seeds were forced into her hands

by someone who never had the right.

Perhaps that is why her garden withered.

So she finds herself journeying alone

on this dark road

waiting for her light to return.

She meets other travelers,

who walk on paths next to hers,

barely visible through the skeletal black trees.

They too did not want for this path,

they too turned to it when 

the tragedy of their past lives forced them away.

They all seem to walk in darkness now.

These other travelers hurt her,

she loathes them 

and herself

for many miles.

But soon she finds comfort 

in their companionship,

for darkness is easier when it is shared.

She waits patiently for her light to return

and when it finally does,

the path is no longer dark and twisted

it is bright and gently curving.

The brambles turn to soft grass

and the steep banks to lush riverbeds

her flowers return and she finds peace

in their beautiful blooms.