For you said,
“Before us lies a field of possibilities,
Many colors to trace with our hands.”
So we walked the be-wildering way
And the sun hid its face behind the trees,
The shadows lengthened on the ground
And shelter was not found in these.
For you said,
“The rise will help us see beyond,”
And so we climbed
The rocky hills
Exhausted, breathless, out of time,
The vista vanishes, as horizons will.
For the wanderer,
The space between silences
Suddenly cracks a chasm:
The music of terrain and trail
Unbearably missing,
Made mute in the heavy emptiness
Who haunts the heart of her?
Nameless I will go alone
To the place
Where turtle shells are left behind,
Where the sun cries,
And the woods do not creep,
And wonder what on earth I’m doing there.
Would I turn back
From that raw heart-wrenching road?
Would I name the trees,
Sing to the silence,
Create a cacophony to fill the emptiness,
No longer wander?
For you said,
“The rugged in between
Is a good place to wait.”
But my shell-less self shivers
In shimmering sunset,
Falling now
The first drops of rain.
Fragile and frightened,
I force myself to stay awake,
While everywhere I am not empties out,
Envelops itself,
In the mist goes missing.
Hollow echoes heard where nothing stirs.
And that’s when the silence screams.
The Sound of What Happens 
A beautiful story, Éilis, but a bit scary… Although as you know I am quite easily scared! Lol! 😊
To be honest, Ali, there is some truth behind the story – and I thought it was pretty scary, too! But just so you don’t get too worried, there were no shell-less turtles, deserts, cold abandoned people, soundless voids, or even actual screaming involved in the nonmetaphorical version. And I was fine within a few hours, that’s how long it took Ailbhe to help me out of feeling panicked and separate. I admire her patience, lol. 🙂
The metaphors helped me put words to things that might otherwise not have had any, and it also became far more interesting!
I thought there might be. Well I’m glad it wasn’t as literal as in the poem, and especially glad you came through it ok. 😊
Those last lines gave me the chills.
🙂
This is beautiful, Eilis! I know I say that about a lot of your writing, but I honestly mean it. Some of the lines just pull at my soul…
Thank you so much, Helen! 🙂