Horizon

What started as a stroll on a balmy afternoon

Turned quickly to a jog at dusk
Before long, it evolved to a full sprint
As night set in
And the night kept coming
Darker still
Voices shined temporary light
But once stilled, the dark returned
Enveloping, surrounding, pressing down
Moist walls on either side give not so much guidance
As narrowed license
Both the path and the air thins
Until the valley in the heart begins to fill
Slowly it fills
Then horizon gleams in the distance
Distant still
Until the sun begins to rise
Though there are moments when eyes close
To keep the dark
The sun cannot be moved
Dark crumbles
Shaken down
Laying the foundation of a firmer path
Then, when the light pierces through
Warmth replaces loneliness
Light replaces gloom
An ascent from the valley
Reveals patches of green
On ground parched from thirst
Until the green become ubiquity
The valley reduced now to a pit
A pit from which the traveler can choose to step
And when that step is taken
She sees the sun, resplendent and brighter
Than it could have ever been
From where she came
On that other side of the valley
Shining in ways she could never have foreseen
And from the descent deep into that valley comes
A knowledge of the miles she can travel
That could never have been understood
From tepid steps through the shallow places
The valley, now filled with the rubble
Left from remnants of the dark,
Becomes the bedrock of a city
Lit bright and alive with hue
And in that place
Once dark and damp with sadness,
She offers refuge to the broken
And a clear path,
Built on the very thing that meant her harm
And all the while the words of the Sun are heard clearer
For from where else does light come
Except through the Son:
"I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit."