Steps Between Shadows
A meditation caught mid-journey

Halfway through the corridor of night I halt
though no summons bids me linger
The stones beneath recall every heel before mine
each echo carried forward unfinished unresolved
My thought half born quivers like a candle
trapped between gusts it cannot command
Shall I move onward toward an unseen design
or spiral deeper into the marrow of this silence
The sky unsated hangs with a thousand pale wounds
each star a question pressed into eternitys skin
They stare mute witnesses to my faltering stride
and I prisoner of hesitation dare not answer
There is a heaviness between the breaths
a tremor twisted into the marrow of stillness
I taste the iron of doubt sharp as winters teeth
and carry it with me like an unvoiced prayer
What lies behind is soot and hollow corridors
what lies ahead a veil linked from uncertainty
Yet here within this trembling pause
I feel a melody unresolved
a dirge awaiting the courage of its final note
And so I walk neither fleeing nor arriving
each step a half uttered vow
each silence a cathedral suspended
between despair and its uncertain deliverance
About the Creator
Tim Carmichael
Tim is an Appalachian poet and cookbook author. He writes about rural life, family, and the places he grew up around. His poetry and essays have appeared in Bloodroot and Coal Dust, his latest book.



Comments (2)
Love this! “Yet here within this trembling pause I feel a melody unresolved” is one of my favorite parts. It flows so beautifully! Very well done!
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