My thanks again to Jenny Matlock’s Saturday Centus, this prompt was way too good to resist…
This wall was built long ago…Too much life for the straight and narrow way,
Great and crashing waves of existence, Too strong for the emerging mind of man. And so a wall was built deep and high
To keep out the night of unconsciousness,
To hold back the forgotten dread,
That sneaks in through quiet times
To take us unawares,
Or breaks over ramparts,
And soak us in the icy brine of prehistoric life. What am I, who am I and what does the wall hold back? we might ask,
It protects us from too much life,
It contains the other side we cannot abide,
But now like all good adventurers I must go out, Out beyond the wall,
Into the camp of night , into winter’s shadowy grip, And bring back that jewel of the hidden north, Bring back myself: whole and full. Pray that I return-
Pray that The Wall lets me pass,
Back to warmth and comforts of the mundane…
Or on moonlit nights look out for me;
A knot of night in the passing gloom, Forever calling you… Out beyond the wall.
The Mirror of Truth 