The Cave

Saturday, March 19, 2011
[blink]
Where am I?
[I am in my youth.]
I am in a shadow; the darkness of the cave.
[I have been here before.]
I am lost in the cave with no way out, no hope of survival.
[I know the cave well, I have been here many times.]
I am going to die in the cave.
[I despise the cave.]
Yet up there is the light, the answer to the darkness!
[So close, yet...]
I run towards the light down a well trodden path.
[I know this path.]
The path promises to deliver me from the darkness to the light.
[I have traveled it many times, I know every twist and turn.]
I run, I flee, I climb, I crawl...
[Again, again, again, again.]
...one slip and I will land back in the cave.
[The retched cave.]
Slowly the darkness fades, the light overcomes!
[I remember the feeling of its warm rays.]
I am saved! I am free! I am home!

Again.

So time and time again, why do I keep waking in the cave?
The many trips towards the light, was it all in vein or simply a dream?

[blink]
Where am I?

~Matthew Kelling

2 comments:

Steve Browning said...

I just read this out loud to my wife, who heads up our drama ministry. She agreed with me that this was a very profound poem. Does the cave represent sin? I will be coming back to this again. Thanks for sharing!

Katanna said...

Thanks so much for your comment, I am glad you like it!

I wrote "The Cave" as a metaphor not for sin in general but one specific sin in my life. But as is true for all poetry: the beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

I will also say: The purpose of the poem (as written) is not to speak on the "darkness to light" journey or even the repetitive nature of sin, but to ask the two questions posed at the end.

Matthew