In a Dark Cave

I see the unseen

knife twist in your gut.

It slices into me as well,

a pale shadow to yours,

but I feel it just the same.

If I could take it all I would,

to eliminate what you feel.

from sunrise to sunset.

I admire your strength,

I cry at times

I love it so.

Your torments deserve accolades but instead you

just get more of the same pain

day after day.

I wish I could name your enemy,

put form to the intangible,

call out your pain to the floor

and wrestle it into submission.

I dream of being a knight,

riding out to the field to slay the dragon

that breathes its fire into you

from afar.

I would cut off its head and stab it

through its evil heart.

But your pain is hidden,

in a dark cave it dwells deep.

I have no torch bright enough

to enter its depths to pull the

foul beast out.

So I will sit,

I will watch,

I will console

The night with you

next to the fire in your embrace.

and I will simply wait.

By Philip Wardlow