Perilous Passages by Sara Wright

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Old Woman cackled on the wing
a pterodactyl with claws
crimson black and white
a great wind
was howling
and she was too.
Passages she screeched.
Her wrath undid me.

The Way was Narrow.
  Cushions of moss
calmed wet cavern walls,
steep stones threatened
 uncertain footsteps,
echoing my descent.
At the bottom
of the well
Silence rang out
like a bell.

She left me there
in the darkness
without sleep
or hope
of escape.
I sat there
for months.
When
Monster boy
slammed viciously
 through
the roof
 I wept,
soundlessly,
for really
what was the point?

And then,
a waking dream –
Benign Wilderness
intervened
in the form
of a young bear
who had been
lost in the woods…
When they brought
him to me
he knew who I was.
 Beloved baby bear
leapt into
into my waiting arms
overjoyed to feel
our beating hearts,
mewed contentment,
 fell sound asleep.
Where was
the monster
boy who
viciously slammed
 through the roof?

 “He’s gone.
You traversed the
 Perilous Passage,”
She croaked.
And then
at last
I slept.

Bio

Sara is a naturalist, ethologist (a person who studies animals in their natural habitats) (former) Jungian Pattern Analyst, and a writer. She publishes her work regularly in a number of different venues and is presently living in Maine.