Shadow Steps

Shadow Steps

I walk through days,

that lean toward darkness,

pulling old fears,

back into the light.

Each hour stretches,

longer than the last,

as if time itself,

wants to test my strength.

Shadows gather,

near my heels,

waiting to see,

if I will turn around.

I keep moving,

through narrow paths,

where silence thickens,

and breath turns slow.

Voices from years,

float through the dark,

calling faintly,

from places I left behind.

I remember faces,

lost to distance,

their names still warm,

though their hands are gone.

The night pulls close,

curving around me,

a cloak of memories,

I carry without choice.

Some steps tremble,

some steps drag,

yet all steps matter,

every single one.

A thin light waits,

somewhere ahead,

quiet and patient,

never giving up on me.

I reach toward it,

even when unsure,

because hope survives,

in the smallest glow.

And through the dark,

I rise again,

proving to myself,

that I am still here.